This document, Healthcare Guidance for Individuals with Limb Deficiencies, is intended to provide support and guidance to people with extensive limb deficiencies in their contact with the healthcare system. When a person has limb deficiencies affecting parts or all of their arms or legs, certain examinations, treatments and procedures may entail difficulties, as normal methods and approaches do not always work. This material can be used as a brochure or as individual (standalone) fact sheets.
The information contained in this document can also be used to support parents of children with limb deficiencies and to provide guidance to healthcare personnel in their interaction with these patients. This material is intended to provide guidance and support and should not in any way be viewed as a replacement for the knowledge of the medical profession. Each section contains a brief introduction to the relevant topic followed by advice and tips that can make things easier for the target group. For more general information, please visit 1177.se or contact your care provider.
The texts in this document are based on information retrieved from 1177.se as well as 20 or so interviews conducted with members of the target group about their experiences of the healthcare system. All texts have been fact-checked by a specialist in general medicine.
During the interviews it has become apparent that many of the interviewees feel that they may need to stand their ground to a greater extent in order to gain understanding and recognition of their situation in terms of how tests can be taken and examinations performed, and factors that may need to be taken into consideration in connection with treatments. It is therefore hoped that these fact sheets will be able to provide good support in relation to healthcare issues.
This brochure is divided into four parts:
• Test-taking/examinations
• Treatments/procedures
• Diagnoses/difficulties
• Summary of the experiences described during the interviews
For Healthcare Personnel
Every day of their lives, persons with limb deficiencies, be they congenital or acquired through disease/injury, are forced to put an unnaturally large amount of strain on their bodies. Each new difficulty encountered by such patients becomes an extra strain or encumbrance and must always be taken into account in connection with the impact analysis for a treatment. If there are treatments, procedures, examinations, aids or the like that can make things easier for the patient, these should be used in the first instance. The target group may include patients who also have other disabilities or difficulties, such as hearing impairment/deafness or visual impairment. For these individuals it is even more important to use aids/interpreters to ensure that the patients can make themselves understood as part of a mutual dialogue.
