Five global health equity experts discussed how health care professionals can use medical technology to provide equitable health care to people with disabilities in a virtual event hosted by Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity on Tuesday.
Shubha Nagesh, an advocacy adviser with Global Health in India, moderated a conversation between Director of Student Health Services at Gallaudet University James Huang, Health Care Entrepreneur Nonsi Mathe and Disability Justice Advocate Mildred Omino on how health care professionals have advanced equity for people who are neurodivergent or have a physically disability. Lisa Meeks — founder of Docs With Disabilities, a nonprofit that publishes research and shares stories to advance educational accessibility — delivered the opening address to kick off the virtual event titled “The Role of Innovation in Fueling an Accessible and Equitable World” in celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Meeks said people with disabilities can provide new perspectives to the medical field to help the industry envision more equitable medical, educational and infrastructural systems. She said sharing their experiences with health care professionals can offer them greater insight into barriers to accessibility, which can lead to improved technologies that strengthen public services.
“What some see as a limitation can ultimately be a profound source of strength,” Meeks said.
Nagesh opened the conversation by asking panelists how the medical community can ensure that technological innovations are inclusive to those with disabilities.
Huang said it is crucial that decision-makers include people with disabilities when developing programs, procedures and policies aimed at improving accessibility in the medical field.
“The first point is that we ensure that it reaches marginalized communities. People in those communities should be included in those efforts,” Huang said.
Mathe addressed how integral intersectionality is in conversations on disability. She said race, gender and socioeconomic status cannot be overlooked by researchers when examining how systemic injustices, particularly in the medical field, have impacted people with disabilities.
“The identities are shaped by multiple factors, such as race, gender, socioeconomic status and other, and the nuanced perspective is especially important when considering marginalized communities,” Mathe said. “It highlights how layered oppressions and expressions of exclusion can compound one another.”
Nagesh then asked panelists how partnerships between political entities, researchers and disability advocacy organizations could play a role in fostering inclusion.
Omino said these partnerships could help foster health care services for people with disabilities in their local communities. She said the Global Disability Innovation Hub, hosted by the University College London, has connected international researchers to people with disabilities, particularly in her home country of Kenya, who are developing accessible technology.
“This involves a lot of aspects of intervention, including development of hardware and software, mobile assistive technology and also interventions that are around inclusive employment,” Omino said.
