Making our offices universally accessible: guidelines for physicians.

OBJECTIVE

To develop recommendations for office-based physicians who wish to make their offices accessible to all patients.

OPTIONS

Include taking steps to make offices more accessible, or not; offices may be accessible to varying degrees.

OUTCOMES

Outcomes of accessibility involve patient-care, economic, ethical and legal issues. Stakeholders in these outcomes include patients, physicians, government and society.

EVIDENCE

Data were obtained from a series of searches of MEDLINE, CINAHL and Healthstar (previously Health) databases for articles on disability and family medicine, primary (health) care and family practice, and on access and offices, and health services accessibility, and from a telephone survey of 50 stakeholders.

VALUES

A high value was placed on services to persons with disabilities and on stakeholder input. Universal accessibility was valued as an overall goal; improved accessibility was also highly valued.

BENEFITS, HARMS AND COSTS: Benefits to patients include improved access to care as guaranteed by the Canada Health Act and in keeping with provincial Human Rights Codes. Benefits to physicians include contact with a broader patient population and freedom from fear of litigation. Costs of improved accessibility vary depending on individual circumstances and on whether an office is being built or renovated; some improvement costs are minimal.

RECOMMENDATIONS

All physicians should take measures to improve practice accessibility. Improved access should be considered in each of the following areas: transportation and entrance to the facility, entrance to the office, waiting rooms, rest rooms, examination rooms, general building features and other features.

VALIDATION

No similar guidelines exist. To assess the content validity of these guidelines, the authors had a draft document reviewed by 18 stakeholders. All specific recommendations met the minimum criterion of adherence to current legislation, including national and provincial building codes. The specific recommendations are endorsed by the Canadian Paraplegic Association (national and Ontario offices), the DisAbled Women's Network (Ontario) and the Centre for Independent Living (Toronto).

SPONSORS

Development of these guidelines was supported in part by the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Toronto Hospital, Toronto, Ont.