Acessibilidade de pessoas com deficiência visual nos serviços de saúde [Health service accessibility for the visually impaired] [Accesibilidad para las personas con discapacidad visual en los servicios de salud]

Resumen

Objective: to examine health service accessibility for the visually impaired. Method: this qualitative, descriptive study was conducted with 24 visually impaired users of an institution in the city of Joo Pessoa, Pernambuco, from October to November 2013. Data were collected by recorded, semi-structured interview, and treated by content analysis. Results: the evidence was that people with visual disabilities experience a variety of difficulties in accessing health services, ranging from travel to the service through to communicating with health personnel, in breach of the principle of accessibility and undermining the quality of health care for these people. Conclusion: these barriers must be made more widely known, so as to build to awareness in society of the real problems caused by lack of accessibility for the visually impaired.