Quite a few years ago we created a hospital passport with my son. A hospital passport is a really handy document to have if you need to go to hospital, particularly if you have disability and might have difficulty communicating with hospital staff.
My son’s hospital passport includes lots of important information about his health care needs, medications and his daily life. It also outlines how he is when he is well, what he enjoys doing, important relationships and that many people love and care about him. Each time my son is admitted to hospital the staff are given the passport and straight away they know how they can best take care of him.
With COVID it is even more important to prepare and plan and I strongly recommend that everyone with disability has a passport to convey important information to hospital staff. This can include important things like how to help a person stay calm and minimise distress and a reminder that people with disability have the right to receive the same level of healthcare as other persons.
There are a number of templates available and I would encourage you to ensure people with disability get the assistance they need to complete a hospital passport that includes the information they think is important for hospital teams to know.
Have a look at these templates and see which one works best for you or the person you assist:
- Hospital Passport
- A2D Admission to discharge
- Top 5 things for hospital staff to know
- My Hospital Passport
- Julian’s Key
Since we recorded this podcast rapid antigen tests (RAT) for self testing have become readily available. And in the past week there has been a significant resurgence of COVID with the new variant – omicron. RAT are just like PPE and the COVID vaccine – another layer of protection for people with disability who require close contact to have their support needs met. I encourage providers to hand out RAT to your support workers to ensure they are not inadvertently spreading COVID. As borders open and restrictions ease, I do believe RAT will save lives.
The Coming out of Lockdown resources for support coordinators is a comprehensive set of resources created by a volunteer team of NDIS support coordinators. Also check out:
- Queensland Disability Network COVID resources
- Every Australian Counts NDIS and Coronavirus information and resources
To find out more about COVID, resources and supports listen to Dr George Taleporos’ podcast series on COVID.