Health-Related Rights

The following rights were developed by the Health Promotion for Women with Disabilities staff at Villanova University College of Nursing. We believe that women with disabilities have the right to:
   

Health care that is delivered in a sensitive, non-discriminatory way that addresses the special needs of women with disabilities.

Health care that recognizes your right to choose or to refuse certain treatments.

Health care that considers the whole person and conveys to you the knowledge that you have a body, mind, spirit and intellect.

Health care facilities that are accessible and equipped to provide care for women with disabilities.

Elimination or reduction in barriers - environmental and attitudinal - that make seeking of primary health care difficult.

Acknowledgment on the part of health care professionals that you know your body, changes in your body and its limitations better than anyone else.

Recognition that although you have a disability, all health problems that you experience are not related to that disability.

Information about health care issues that are of special interest because of your disability provided to you in a way that takes into account your disability or limitations.

Care that is delivered in a way that empowers you and puts the control in your hands.

Assistance (transfer, getting dressed and undressed) when needed to enable you to participate in screening and preventive health care.

Acknowledgment that your interest in being intimate or sexual is normal and not extinct because of your disability.

Access to the same advice and counseling regarding reproductive and sexual concerns that any woman deserves.

Acknowledgment and recognition that your disability may present problems but that you are still interested in and capable of maintaining a high quality of life and wellness.

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08/01/03 02:23 PM