Abstract
To maintain the oral health and ability to smoothly receive dental treatment of people with disabilities, their accessibility to dental institutions must be enforced. Hence, this study aimed to assess the status of installation of convenience facilities for people with disabilities in dental institutions in Chungbuk Province, South Korea. According to the checklist based on installation items for convenience facilities for people with disabilities, 245 dental institutions in Chungbuk Province were visited and investigated to examine whether they had installed internal, intermediary, sanitary, and information-related facilities for people with disabilities. Inputs were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Frequency analysis by item was conducted to determine the rate of installation, and Fisher’s exact test was performed to analyze the actual state of installation according to the type of institution. The results revealed a relatively higher rate of appropriate installation and access routes to the main entrance and parking spaces for people with disabilities in terms of intermediary and internal facilities, but at times they were installed at inappropriate locations or lacked proper signboards. The state of installation of convenience facilities by institution type was 0–1.3% per item at the clinic level but 75–87.5% per item in general and dental hospitals (p < 0.001). Insufficient government management and supervision at clinic-level dental institutions lead to limited scope for regulating the installation of convenience facilities. Better laws, with continued support and supervision of central and local governments, are needed to resolve this issue.
Highlights
The standards for dental institution convenience facilities mandate that, for intermediary facilities, the pathway from outside to the main entrance of the building should be of an effective width (0.8 m or more), and accessible parking spaces exclusively for persons with disabilities be provided in the ratio specified in the Parking Lot Act
This study investigated the current state of installation of convenience facilities for people with disabilities at dental institutions in Chungbuk Province, South Korea, to collect basic data for suggesting appropriate improvements for access and expansion of convenience facilities at such institutions
The findings of this study reveal that the installation rate of convenience facilities for such people at dental institutions in Chungbuk was 2.4%, and the inappropriate installation rate was 97.6%
Summary
Convenience facilities for persons with disabilities refer to facilities and equipment that enable convenient—and equal—access to services and information for all people, whether with disabilities or fully fit [1] These facilities are classified as intermediary facilities, internal facilities, sanitary facilities, and information facilities according to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Convenience Promotion of people with disabilities, the Elderly and Pregnant Women [2]. They are divided into mandatory and recommended items, with the installation standards stipulated as follows. The standards for dental institution convenience facilities mandate that, for intermediary facilities, the pathway from outside to the main entrance of the building should be of an effective width (0.8 m or more), and accessible parking spaces exclusively for persons with disabilities be provided in the ratio specified in the Parking Lot Act
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