Seminar “Education of Primary Healthcare Professionals in Disability Communication Issues”

In the framework of the SMiLe project, a seminar titled “Training Primary Healthcare Professionals in Disability Issues” was held on the 30^th of August 2019, at the Primary Health Care centre of Nea Michaniona.

The seminar was attended by around 15 people, including health professionals working at the PHC centre.

The first part of the seminar was devoted to familiarizing participants with the basic theoretical principles of disability, with presentations by Assistant Professor of Primary Health Care and Medical Education of AUTh’s Department of Medicine, Manolis Smyrnakis, Dr. Panagiotis Tsalis, civil engineer specialized on accessibility and Georgia Fyka, social worker with specialization in Disability Studies and Health Services’ Management.

In the second part of the seminar, the participants attended clinical scenarios coordinated by Paschalina Kalle, mobility instructor for persons with visual impairments, Spyros Kouzelis, sign language interpreter, and Georgia Fyka.

In the third and final part of the seminar, an evaluation by the participants took place. The seminar was well received, as it focused on realistic scenarios and the fact that it took place at a PHC centre gave the participants the chance to receive practical guidelines on the interaction with disabled patients and visitors.