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For many Australians living with disability, navigating the healthcare system can be traumatising, but one doctor is shining a light on how accessible systems, inclusive healthcare, and appropriate supports can improve outcomes for people with disability.
Based in Queensland, Dinesh Palipana is an emergency doctor, lawyer and disability advocate. He is also the first quadriplegic medical intern in the state's history. After sustaining a spinal cord injury in a car accident, he returned to complete his medical training and now works in emergency medicine while advancing Spinal Cord Injury Research.
Dr Palipana explains how the disability community often face physical and logistical barriers in the health system, including inaccessible hospital environments and transport challenges.
There are rural Australians with disability, I've heard some terrible stories…people have trouble accessing primary care, so good telehealth, good access to GPS, good access to preventative allied health is really important.
Dinesh Palipana
The disability advocate says there is a significant gap in the training of new doctors, pointing to one US study which found that 81% of medical students did not feel confident managing the needs of people with disabilities.
“It was actually the attitudes of the system and the people within it, not the attitude of the community…there's a disconnect between how far our community has come and where the system is.”
Reflecting on overcoming scepticism within the medical profession and the value of employing disabled professionals in healthcare, Dr Palipana explains how inclusion can lead to practical benefits.
“We need more people within the system that can inform medicine and the healthcare system about the disability experience through their lived experience,” he believes. “If you have a workforce with disability, there’s less risk, there’s less absenteeism, there’s more retention... better innovation.”
Above all, Dr Palipana says the system must look beyond clinical settings and address education, employment, and healthcare as a single, connected challenge to improve health outcomes for the one in six people globally living with a disability.
“Good works equals good health. We just need to ask, 'Hey, what do we need to do to make this better for you?' and I think if we do that, we’ll work towards something beautiful.”
If you liked this story, you can listen to the full episode of Building Inclusion, a podcast about Australia's Disability Strategy presented by Powered Media, right here.
This podcast by Powerd Media is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing under the Inclusion and Accessibility Fund: Australia's Disability Strategy (ADS) – Community Attitudes grant program.