This is a picture taken of the entrance to one of the subway stations in Oslo. The train is an important transport component in the capital of Norway; who transported a total of 122 million passengers in 2018. I’ve chosen this picture of an elevator next to the escalator due to it showcasing how our society adapts the environment for those with movement restrictions like wheelchair users, strollers, etc. This is just one of much universal adaptation of accessibility in our society. I think these adaptations are a necessity to allow handicapped and others with participation in society. Which also is important to each individual mental and physical health: they can visit friends, participate in activities, and easily get their way to health facilities. In the context of physical therapy were we get a lot of patients with movement restrictions, it’s especially important that the transport systems are universally adapted so they can easily access our facilities.
My reflections are supported by the Norwegian disability associations. Whom describes the universal design as a way of adjusting the physical environment to be used by as many as possible. The main solution should be as equal as possible. No one should have to use the backdoor or external solution to access the same facilities as others. We have a law called discrimination and accessibility law. Which makes it illegal to discriminate against people with reduced functional ability. The purpose of this law is to promote equality, options, and rights for everyone, independent of those with mobility challenges. The importance of this law allows downsizing of barriers in society, as well as preventing new barricades to arise. This yields not just for the subway accessibility, but there’s a list of laws regulating individual adaptations for people with disabilities in facilities like kindergartens, schools, etc. In the context of this picture, there is a law regulating official buildings and areas like the subway to be universally adjusted. Which is regulated by the plan- and building law.
One thought on “Fossum, Simon Tobias. “Facilitated Health Environment”.”
Feedback on assignment:
Content: The text reflects the topic of the assignment. Individual identified an important aspect of the health care system. The picture and text relate closely and provide a detailed explanation. The writer made me think about community integration and the role that physios play to get our patients ready to join the world even though they might have a disability. We cannot change infrastructure, but we can at least provide our patients with enough strength to overcome slight inconveniences.
Argument: I managed to grasp the idea of the text easily. There are claims made about the improvement of infrastructure. These claims are logical and in order, but the state of infrastructure is unfortunately not in the hands of Physiotherapists (PT’s). we can, however, prepare people with disabilities on how to use these facilities.
References: The author mentioned evidence and a reference (Norwegian disability association), but it is not in the APA format. If the writer could provide one or two more references and cite them correctly, it would improve the quality of his statement greatly.
Writing: The entire piece is grammatically correct. It is easy to read, however, minor flaws in the flow of the piece can be improved on. There are no spelling mistakes in the piece.
Most interesting: The aspect of this piece that I found most interesting is the innovation and passion of the Norwegian System, whether it be Health care of infrastructural. There is a clear effort to ensure that people with disabilities are treated equally to those without disabilities. Whereas, in South Africa, the major concern is getting our patients out of the hospitals alive and well. We spend little time and resources on the integration of the patient into his/her community.
This piece gave me the opportunity to self reflect and hope for change in the way people with disabilities are treated worldwide.
Reviewed by: Leonora du Preez