2014 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES- DECEMBER 3. Theme: ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS: It starts from the car parks and continues to the entrances. Preamble: Around the world, Persons With Disabilities (PWD) face physical, social, economic and attitudinal barriers that exclude them from participating fully and effectively as equal members of society. They are disproportionately represented among the world’s poorest, and lack equal access to basic resources, such as education, employment, healthcare and social and legal support systems, as well as have a higher rate of mortality. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities observed on December 3 of every year provides a platform to draw attention to the needs of PWD. This year focuses on available technologies and measures that can be adopted to create work environments that are open, inclusive and accessible to allow persons with disabilities to fully participate and contribute to the workforce. Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the ability to access and benefit from some system or entity. Bearing in mind that persons with disabilities form a high percentage of our clientele, it behoves on us, Physiotherapists, to advocate for their inclusiveness, integration and reintegration into the larger society especially in the area of accessibility to public facilities. We therefore advocate for the following: 1. Accessible Parking Spaces All parking lots must provide accessible parking spaces for PWD, at least there should be 1 parking space for every 25 spaces. All the facilities that provide goods or services to the public have a continuing obligation to remove barriers to access in existing parking lots. We are convinced that restriping of parking spaces is readily achievable in most cases. 2. Accessible entrances As with parking spaces, all entrances to buildings that provide services to the public. Accessibility modifications may be required to enable persons with disabilities to gain access to existing buildings. It should, however, be noted that in planning to construct new structures accessibility issue should be factored in. We volunteer to provide the required expertise to achieve accessibility. The theme adopted by our National body the NIGERIA SOCIETY OF PHYSIOTHERAPY attests to this vision: ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS: It starts from the car parks and continues to the entrances. METHODS A. The Advocacy Physiotherapists can write managements of health and other institutions, advocating that at least a space should be designated for the persons with disability in all parking spaces. Physiotherapists should also advocate that all entrances, especially those leading into main service areas, be wheelchair accessible. The above write-up can serve as the content of the letter. B. How to Achieve Accessible Parking Spaces/Entrances Accessible parking spaces for cars can have at least a 60-inch-wide access aisle located adjacent to the designated parking space which are the regular parking spaces. The access aisle is just wide enough to permit a person using a wheelchair to enter or exit the car. These parking spaces are identified with a sign and located on level ground. Options: 1. State Chapters/departments can either do a painting of the disability/accessibility logo on the floor or a sign post with the same logo placed at the designated parking spaces. Charity, they say, begins from home. The closest parking space to all Physiotherapy departments should be accessible and designated for PWD. {There can be production of stickers which can be pasted on sign posts at car parks to designate accessibility and at entrances of accessible buildings}. 2. Physiotherapists can embark on a survey of entrances to all the buildings and offices into treatment areas of the hospitals to ascertain whether they are accessible - a simple rule of thumb: there should not be an elevation e.g stairs without an alternative i.e ramps. 3. We can extend this advocacy to the Public buildings in our states. Thank you. For more info: dambelphysio@yahoo [email protected]
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 21:59:22 +0000
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