Examination of polyclinics of public hospitals and their immediate surroundings for visually impaired people within the scope of accessibility, attainability and usability (Case of Gaziantep)

Although they have physical limitations, visually impaired people can act independently and freely within the physical environments arranged in accordance with the accessibility standards and, therefore, they can participate in the social life actively. The changes in the models of approaching to disability, which underlie the determination of the accessibility standards for the people with disabilities and follow each other in this process as well as the effects of disability rights movement, universal design and accessibility, attainability, and usability concepts and Turkish Standardization Instute accessibility standards for the visually impaired people were explained in this study. In the process of utilizing healthcare services by visually impaired people, the qualitative-quantitative assessments of 25 Aralık State Hospital Polyclinics, Abdülkadir Yüksel State Hospital Polyclinics and Dr. Ersin Arslan Training and Research Hospital Polyclinics and their immediate surroundings located in Gaziantep province were performed according the examination forms prepared in order to examine the compliance of the polyclinic buildings and their immediate surroundings with the standards. As a result of the data obtained, the compliance rates of the arrangements in the polyclinic buildings and their immediate surroundings, included in the sample group, for visually impaired people and at what rate the non-compliant planning may be made compliant were determined. As a result of the determination performed, the recommendations were presented for accessible, attainable, and usable physical environmental arrangements.