THE VOICES OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

It is a sad comment on our society as Canadians that in those situations which can so profoundly affect persons with disabilities, it is exactly these people who are excluded from the discussion. The following section of this report looks at the current representation of persons with disabilities in the discussion around DNR Orders and their placement; it provides some perspectives of persons with disabilities that have been written in various disability advocacy publications; and we hear the voices of some Manitobans for whom this issue was critical and life-changing.

CURRENT STATISTICS REGARDING REPRESENTATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Earlier in this paper, results of a survey conducted with the provincial Regional Health Authorities (RHA’s), and various hospitals, health care centres and long term care facilities across the province were presented. One of the questions included in that survey asked whether there was representation of persons with disabilities within the decision making bodies when ethical guidelines were being established.

To review those statistics:

By Region

	One region has identified persons with disabilities within the community to provide feedback when guidelines are being established;
	One states that although there is no representation of persons with disabilities at this time, they would be open to input from the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities in exploring this further;
	One supports the idea but nothing is in place presently;
	One did not have an answer available; and,
	the remainder of regions had no representation of persons with disabilities when making ethical medical decisions.

Hospitals, Health Care Centres, & Long Term Care Facilities

	One (Winnipegosis General Hospital) of these institutions reported that representation of persons with disabilities in establishing guidelines was seen as necessary in setting protocols of DNR Order applications for persons with disabilities;
	Five (Brandon General Hospital, Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, Seven Oaks General Hospital, St. Boniface Hospital and Victoria General Hospital) reported they were open to input from MLPD in exploring this further;
	One (Riverview Health Centre) forwarded a copy of policies made to their Residents’ Committee for comment;
	One (Roblin District Health Centre) supports the idea of representation of persons with disabilities in establishing guidelines through survey and project team input;
	One (Dauphin General Hospital) states that although representation of persons with disabilities is not occurring now, they do support community input through focus groups;
	One (Dauphin Personal Care Home) reported that although there is nothing in place now, they would support this concept for the Dauphin Regional Health Authority
	The remaining ten respondents did not have an answer available for this question.

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