DISABILITY STAFF

Disability support worker comforting a person with intellectual disability as they wait in Emergency

Waiting in Emergency

Disability support staff often accompany people with intellectual disabilities to hospital.

In these scenes, Jeff is accompanied by Amelia, his disability support worker, and Curtis is accompanied by John, his disability support worker.

Applying the Framework

Diagram showing the four framework processes, with the Knowing segment highlighted.

Knowing that

The number of people in the hospital emergency waiting area doesn’t reflect what is happening within the Emergency Department itself.
Ambulance arrivals are not seen by people in the waiting area, but contribute to how busy it is in Emergency .
A nurse triages each patient on arrival, ranking the urgency of their problem.
Patients are seen according to the urgency of their condition rather than the time they arrived.

Informing

As a disability support worker, you will need to tell the nurse

your relationship with the person with intellectual disability and what you know about their current medical issue
how long you can stay with them
if you expect someone else will arrive to support the person
how they show or communicate pain, discomfort, or distress
how to include the person in conversations about them

Diagram showing the four framework processes, with the Collaborating segment highlighted.

Collaborating is when you

stay calm when telling hospital staff about the person you are supporting
repeat information for different hospital staff
answer questions about the person you are supporting while involving them

Supporting

The person you accompany to hospital will feel supported when you

anticipate and advocate for their needs
relay what hospital staff tell you in ways the person can understand
seek their permission to talk to hospital staff on their behalf
reassure them by explaining what will happen and staying calm

Summary

Knowing something about the hospital system will be useful background when you accompany a person with intellectual disability to hospital.

People with intellectual disabilities who live in supported accommodation often rely on disability support staff when they present to an Emergency Department. On arrival, you will need to tell hospital staff about your relationship with the person you are with. You may need to give key information in ways that keep them involved in the conversation. You will also need to advocate for their needs.

Long waits are difficult for people with intellectual disabilities. Sharing information and concerns with hospital staff is the first step in collaborating to find ways to support the person.

You can find further information in Resources about Hospital Emergency Department Processes.

Activities

These are provided to support your learning, individually or in a group. You can write responses in the workbook sections available for download.

Write down responses to the following in your workbook:

List two reasons why answering a triage nurse's questions on behalf of a person you support would help to smooth the hospital journey for them.
Explain why you would ask the person in your care for permission to answer a nurse's questions about them from the perspective of (a) the person with intellectual disability and (b) the nurse.
Describe ways you could support the person with intellectual disability during a lengthy wait in an Emergency waiting area.

Activity 1: In groups of 5-6 people, ask one person to describe their most recent positive experience of accompanying a person with intellectual disabilities in an Emergency waiting area. Then, using a board or butcher's paper to record discussion points, apply the Learning Framework to this experience by responding to each of the following:

1. Describe any support, such as adjustments, that met the needs of the person with intellectual disability.

For these supports,

(a) List what hospital staff needed to know about people with intellectual disabilities, the disability system, and the role of disability support workers?

(b) List what the disability support worker needed to know about hospitals and their processes?

(d) Describe the collaboration across hospital and disability staff.

Activity 2: In the same groups, ask one person to describe their most recent negative experience of accompanying a person with intellectual disability in an Emergency waiting area. Then, using a board or butcher's paper to record discussion points, apply the Learning Framework to this experience by thinking about what would have made it more positive:

1. Describe any support, such adjustments, that would have met the needs of the person with intellectual disability.

For these supports,

(a) List what hospital staff need to know about people with intellectual disabilities, the disability system, and the role of disability support workers.

(b) List what the disability support worker needs to know about hospitals and their processes.

(c) Identify specific information about the person with intellectual disability that should be shared with hospital staff.

(d) Describe the collaboration across hospital and disability staff needed for this experience to be more positive.

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT >