Following up the Accessing of Disabilities Welfare Services in Thammasat University Hospital

Abstract

The study “Aftercare follow-up of patients who used the medical services of Thammasat University Hospital through their access rights for persons with disabilities” aimed to examine access to and usage of the medical services through the rights laid out in section 20 of the Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Act B.E. 2550. The study also aimed to investigate how satisfied the patients were with the medical services and facilities for persons with disabilities at Thammasat University Hospital after they had used the services. The participants of this study were 183 persons with disabilities who had used the social welfare services in the hospital. The data was collected by questionnaires and analyzed in the form of descriptive statistics (percentage, mean, and standard deviation).

The results of the studies indicated that the persons with disabilities showed an average level of satisfaction with using their right of access and with using the medical services at Thammasat University Hospital; the mean was 3.21% and the S.D. was 0.785%. In addition, the result of the satisfaction with medical social welfare services for persons with disabilities in the hospital was on an average level of satisfaction; the mean was 3.29% and the S.D. was 0.814%. Finally, the result of the satisfaction with the access to the facilities outside of the building for the persons with disabilities was 3.01% for the mean and 1.112% for S.D. Interestingly, the satisfaction with the access to the facilities inside the building for persons with disabilities was 3.07% for the mean and 1.130 % for S.D.The results also led to the recommendation that the hospital staff should develop more individualized types of services that cover the needs of the persons with disabilities based on their types of disabilities. Furthermore, the study suggests that additional research be done for improving the medical services and social welfare services that facilitate persons with disabilities with access to and usage of the medical services through the rights laid out in section 20 of the Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Act B.E. 2550 in order to improve the quality of life of the persons with disabilities.