Report on Healthcare Accessibility and Sustainable Development Goals

1.0 Introduction: The Challenge of Equitable Healthcare Access

Access to healthcare services presents significant challenges for persons with disabilities in New Mexico. Navigational and communication barriers create a daunting environment, undermining the fundamental right to health. This issue directly intersects with several key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting a critical area for institutional action to ensure no one is left behind.

2.0 Analysis of Barriers in the Context of SDGs

The difficulties faced by persons with disabilities in accessing medical appointments are symptomatic of systemic inequalities. These barriers directly contravene the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

2.1 Specific Barriers Identified

• Communication Access: The lack of readily available interpreters for deaf or hard-of-hearing patients.
• Physical Accessibility: The absence of necessary infrastructure, such as wheelchair ramps, to ensure entry and navigation within healthcare facilities.

2.2 Correlation with Sustainable Development Goals

These accessibility failures represent a direct challenge to the achievement of the following SDGs:

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: The goal aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Inaccessible healthcare services prevent persons with disabilities from achieving the highest attainable standard of health, creating disparities in health outcomes.
2. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities: This goal calls for reducing inequality within and among countries by empowering and promoting the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of disability. The identified barriers are a clear manifestation of inequality that marginalizes and excludes a significant portion of the population from essential services.
3. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: Target 11.7 specifically aims to provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces. Healthcare facilities are a critical public service, and their lack of accessibility undermines the creation of truly inclusive communities.

3.0 Institutional Response and Advancement of the SDGs

Initiatives by institutions such as UNM Health demonstrate a localized commitment to addressing these challenges and advancing the SDG agenda. By providing targeted assistance, such organizations play a crucial role in translating global goals into tangible local impact.

3.1 Key Areas of Institutional Action

• Ensuring Inclusive Services: Proactively providing resources like interpreters and accessible infrastructure directly supports the targets of SDG 3 and SDG 10.
• Reducing Systemic Barriers: By acknowledging and addressing the unique needs of patients with disabilities, health systems can dismantle long-standing inequalities and build more resilient and inclusive institutions, aligning with the principles of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
• Promoting Universal Health Coverage: Efforts to make healthcare navigable and accessible for all are fundamental to achieving universal health coverage, a cornerstone of SDG 3.

Analysis of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

   The article highlights issues directly connected to several Sustainable Development Goals, primarily focusing on health, equality, and accessible infrastructure for people with disabilities.

   • SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: The core subject of the article is “navigating health care” and ensuring access to doctor’s appointments. It directly addresses the goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all, especially for vulnerable groups.
   • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities: The article explicitly discusses the “added layer” of difficulty that people with disabilities face when accessing healthcare. By focusing on the need for interpreters and wheelchair ramps, it addresses the inequality in access to essential services for this specific group, aligning with the goal of empowering and promoting the inclusion of all, irrespective of disability.
   • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: The mention of a “wheelchair ramp” connects the issue to the accessibility of public infrastructure. Healthcare facilities are essential public service buildings, and making them physically accessible is a key component of creating inclusive and sustainable communities.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

   The specific challenges mentioned in the article can be mapped to the following SDG targets:

   • Target 3.8: “Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.” The article’s entire premise, centered on making healthcare access possible for people with disabilities, directly supports the goal of ensuring “access to quality essential health-care services” for all segments of the population.
   • Target 10.2: “By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.” The article highlights the need for inclusion in the healthcare system by pointing out barriers (lack of interpreters, ramps) that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully and equally.
   • Target 11.7: “By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.” The specific question, “Is there a wheelchair ramp nearby?” directly relates to this target’s aim of ensuring public spaces and facilities, such as a doctor’s office, are physically accessible to persons with disabilities.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

   While the article does not mention official statistical indicators, it strongly implies practical measures that can be used to track progress towards the identified targets. These implied indicators are:

   • Availability of interpretation services in healthcare facilities: The question, “Are they going to have an interpreter available?” implies that the proportion of healthcare facilities providing professional interpretation services for patients (e.g., for the deaf or hard of hearing) is a key measure of accessible care (related to Target 3.8 and 10.2).
   • Physical accessibility of healthcare buildings: The question about a “wheelchair ramp” implies an indicator related to the proportion of healthcare facilities that are compliant with accessibility standards for people with physical disabilities. This directly measures progress towards Target 11.7.
   • Patient-reported experience and ease of access: The article describes navigating healthcare as “nerve wracking” and “daunting” for some. This implies that surveys measuring the perceived ease of access and overall patient experience among people with disabilities could serve as an indicator of whether inequalities in healthcare access are being reduced (related to Target 10.2).

Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: kob.com