Published: August 2021
People who are blind or have low vision have certain needs when they are in hospital.
It is important for health staff to understand these needs to ensure patients receive personalised care and experience the best health outcomes.
This suite of resources has been co-designed with clinicians and consumers to help improve the experience of people who are blind or have low vision while they are in hospital.
Identifying patients’ needs
A form has been developed to provide information to health staff about a patient’s needs.
Requests for personalising care - Patient’s TOP 5 needs for support enables consumers to list the top five things that will make their time in hospital a more satisfying experience.
The form can then be referred to throughout a person’s hospital stay to ensure all relevant health staff understand their needs.
Patient's TOP 5 needs form (PDF 999.0 KB)
Information for consumers
A conversation guide and patient kit is available to better support people who are blind or have low vision when they are admitted in hospital.
The TOP 5 form is also included within this resource.
What matters most to you? Information for patients is available in these accessible formats:
Braille version can be requested from Vision Australia by emailing printaccess@visionaustralia.org
Information for clinicians
The following resource for clinicians has been co-designed with consumers. It includes a conversation guide, suggestions for a patient kit and information about how to build staff capability to improve a hospital stay for a person who is blind or has low vision. It guides clinicians to help a consumer identify the top five things they will need while they are in hospital.
The TOP 5 form is also included within this resource.
Personalising care for people who are blind or have low vision – Information for staff is available in these accessible formats:
Braille version can be requested from Vision Australia by emailing printaccess@visionaustralia.org
Implementation toolkit
This toolkit is to support staff at health services to plan and put into action a project to improve hospital stays for people who are blind or have low vision at their site.
Appendix 3: Experience map audio
Audio version of Experience map.
- Audio Introduction
- Audio Touchpoint 1 - Admission and consent practices
- Audio Touchpoint 2 - Clinician and patient communication
- Audio Touchpoint 3 - Staff awareness and understanding
- Audio Touchpoint 4 - Ward and hospital environment orientation
- Audio Touchpoint 5 - Independant care and mobility
- Audio Touchpoint 6 - Discharge process and consumer preparedness
Acknowledgements
The ACI acknowledges the contributions of: