Sherri Oberjohann RN, CTC
Planning an enjoyable vacation can be quite cumbersome in general. With the addition of special needs in the equation, the challenges may seem endless. My goal in this article is to provide resources that may assist those clients with special needs and their travel consultants in accommodating these needs throughout their vacation experience.
After consulting with several special needs clients, I was compelled by my background in nursing to further learn about the various ways to assist my clients with their health needs while arranging their travel plans. As a nurse, my job was to take care of the patient while they were in my presence. Yet as their travel consultant, it is my responsibility to ensure they have the best travel experience while ensuring any special needs they may have are fully accommodated.
First, allow me to identify what defines ‘special needs’. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides the following definition of special needs as any of various difficulties (such as a physical, emotional, behavioral, or learning disability or impairment) that causes an individual to require additional or specialized services or accommodations (such as in education or recreation). By this definition, there is a vast array of items that can belong to this classification. Identifying and understanding your client’s needs to the best of your ability is imperative to ensuring the highest quality accommodation. While it is not customary, or mandatory, for a travel consultant to understand every medical condition or special need that they may encounter, I have identified many available resources to assist with understanding the client’s specific needs and requirements.
Where do you start? As a travel consultant the first step is to qualify your client’s needs. Do they have a medical condition that requires special services while traveling such as Diabetes or a cardiac condition? Do they need durable medical equipment awaiting for them at their destination such as an electric scooter, walker or hospital bed? Will the client need assistance navigating through airports, cruise terminals, or require specialized transportation services such as a wheelchair or a guide to assist with vision impairment? These are all good questions to incorporate into your initial conversations with your prospective client. This information will provide you with more detail pertaining to your client’s individual needs and help to focus your travel preparation efforts.
As you identify your client’s specific needs and concerns, you must discuss with your client the goals they wish to achieve during their travel. Determining the level of activity the client desires for their travel will assist you to determine if additional needs may arise which may prevent them from having the experience they expect and deserve. Discussing the desired destination is also extremely important. Clients may have a destination in mind that you, as their travel consultant, may know will pose additional concerns for the client’s needs. It is very important to not only assist the client, but to also provide education to them on any concerns you may have about the destination they have identified. Open communication with your client from the very beginning will not only help them to feel confident in your ability, but allow you to help them better determine what will be optimal for their circumstance.
A vital item to safeguard clients, which should always be discussed, specifically when there are medical conditions present is a trip protection insurance policy. It has been my experience that a large majority of the population are not aware of the limitations of their current medical insurance and that it may not have the provisions necessary to properly provide for them in the event of a medical emergency. This has been proven to be most beneficial with any travel outside of the continental United States. Providing the client with potential scenarios such as emergency evacuation from a resort in the Mediterranean or a cruise ship in the Caribbean, dental emergencies, minor injuries or illness will help the client determine what is best for their individual needs.
As a travel consultant, determining whether the trip protection insurance policies you present have a “pre-existing” clause is imperative when working with special needs clients. If the trip protection insurance policy has a “pre-existing” clause and the appropriate information is not provided at the time of obtaining this policy, your client may not have proper benefits to cover them if their pre-existing condition causes need for cancellation or medical treatment while in the destination. It is also important to inform the client what constitutes a “covered reason” for cancellation. It is imperative to provide the client with detailed policy documents so that they can fully understand the specifics of the trip protection insurance policy they are acquiring.
Now that you have determined the client’s special needs, the destination where they would like to visit, and discussed various items such as potential concerns during travel with their special needs and a trip protection insurance policy, what is the next step? Research. This is the time to process the information you have collected from the client and determine which vendors may provide the optimal experience for their “special needs”.
In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs and services. By this definition, any vendor that provides accommodation, transportation or communication services to your clients must follow the requirements set forth by the ADA. Travel vendors provide various methods to accommodate your client’s needs, such as cruise lines providing sharps containers, shower chairs, hearing and visually impaired staterooms and alarms throughout the ships.
Research simply starts with asking questions. The best way to determine what your travel vendors can provide is to contact them directly. Ask if they have a specific department that focuses in special needs accommodation. Inquire what items the client should bring with them that the vendors may not be able to provide. Request vendor specific policies regarding what services they can provide so that you can share this information with your client.
Cruising is a highly sought after form of travel, however clients with mobility concerns, conditions that cause dizziness and immune system deficiencies often fore-go the option for cruising. This occurs due to the fear that they may not be able to navigate the large ships with their mobility device, may have increased sea sickness symptoms or simply afraid to be in close quarters with a large population of other individuals that may have illness concerns. These are just a few of the general concerns frequently mentioned when the topic of cruising is discussed.
Guided tour companies can also be interpreted as challenging for special needs clients due to accessibility concerns. Fortunately, transportation options for guided tours, such as charter buses, rail, cruise ships and airlines are equipped with mobility assistance features such as wheelchair lifts, storage for electric scooters or walkers.
There are many organizations available that specialize in special needs travel. Friendship Circle and Family Travel Forum are two examples. Friendship Circle is a network of travel agencies that specialize in providing travel experiences for special needs clients. Family Travel Forum is an internet resource that provides specific destination information that caters to disabled travelers and discusses tips and resources available to the special needs population.
Utilizing blogs and internet articles that pertain to special needs travel is another great resource that can provide personal experiences from other travelers and/or vendors. One such blog is PhD in Special Education (PhDinspecialeducation.com) which is an internet resource available that provides a variety of special needs information from camps, to vacation ideas and travel companies to assist with arranging specific travel needs. Exceptional Parent is another internet resource that provides an accessible travel guide for families with special needs children. All of these agencies noted above provide assistance to clients that have mobility issues, chronic illness and developmental concerns that may impact their travel experience.
When a chronic illness, such as diabetes, lung or cardiac diseases are identified as a special need, there are many resources available to offer to your client. The U.S. Department of State and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) websites can provide up to date information about illness concerns in designated areas around the world. The CDC can provide recommendations on illness and disease prevention, and recommended vaccinations for safe travel. Encourage your client to have a conversation with their medical providers regarding their desired travel destinations and any health concerns that may be valid with their current medical condition. Many health insurance policies have programs in place to assist their clients with special needs services such as dialysis, oncology treatments and emergency services when they are traveling within the United States. For treatment needs outside of the United States, their medical providers would be instrumental in identifying procedures to accommodate these needs.
Contacting agencies that are specific to the particular condition or need that your client has can also be a good resource for advice on how to assist your clients. Such agencies are available for many different conditions, including but not limited to:
• American Heart Association
• Autism Speaks
• American Cancer Society
• American Lung Association
• American Diabetes Association
• National Multiple Sclerosis Society
• American Cancer Society
The National institute of Health is a wonderful resource to provide vast information about most clinical conditions that you may encounter while working with special needs clients.
During my research for this article, I have found that there are certification programs available to travel consultants that will specialize them with special needs travel. These programs will provide the consultant with in-depth knowledge regarding services and resources available for clients with special needs. One such program is through the Special Needs Group. Once a consultant becomes ‘certified’ with this program, they have access to these resources to accommodate their clients. This specific company provides the ability to order durable medical equipment for special needs clients during their cruise vacations. The division for this type of resource is called Special Needs at Sea. Items such as electric scooters, hospital beds, and multiple grade wheelchairs including Joy on the Beach wheelchairs are readily accessible to enhance your clients cruise and beach experience.
Disabled-world.com is an internet resource that provides disability news and information. The primary focus of the Disabled World website is to provide up to date information via our informative news, product reviews, and educational videos. The disability travel section on disabled-world.com/travel provides reviews of accessible tours, vacations, and cruises for persons with disabilities including wheelchair accessible accommodation reviews and articles about interesting places to visit and/or vacation around the world. Disabled World members write many of the articles found on this website to share their personal experiences to further assist others with disabilities while they are considering their travel options.
According to the Disabled World website:
• about 1 in 5 people in America currently has a disability
• 33% of 20-year-old workers will become disabled before reaching retirement age
• over a billion people, around 15% of the world’s population, have some form of disability
• between 110 million and 190 million adults worldwide have significant difficulties in functioning
• rates of disability are increasing due to population aging and increases in chronic health conditions.
The statistics from disabled-world.com reaffirm the need for travel consultants that can assist special needs client’s with accommodating these needs to ensure the positive travel experience they desire. As you can see, there is a vast array of resources and organizations available to travel consultants and their client’s to assist with the accommodation of the needs for the client’s they are providing service to. Educating yourself with the various resources discussed in this article, as well as many others available, will provide you with knowledge to enhance your conversations with prospective client’s that have special needs to accommodate.
The intent of this article is to provide resources for use within the travel industry to assist with identifying the special needs your prospective clients may have, and educate travel consultants on how to ensure proper accommodation of these needs, therefore enhancing their client’s travel experience. In conclusion, as the travel consultant, you are the direct connection for assisting your client with obtaining their optimal vacation experience. Determining your client’s needs in your initial conversations will aid in the travel planning process and ensure your client will have the travel experience they expect and deserve.
Bibliography:
Special Needs Group – www.specialneedsatsea.com
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel
U.S. Department of State – https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/go.html
Merriam-Webster Dictionary – https://www.merriam-webster.com/
U.S. Department of Labor – https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/disability/ada
Friendship Circle – www.Friendshipcircle.org
Family Travel Forum – https://myfamilytravels.com/content/13581-special-needs-destinations-and-programs-travelers
PhD in special education – https://phdinspecialeducation.com/groups-activities/
American Heart Association – www.heart.org
American Cancer Society – www.cancer.org
Disabled World – www.disabled-world.com; www.disabled-world.com/travel
National Institutes of Health – www.nih.gov
American Lung Association – www.lung.org
Autism Speaks – www.autismspeaks.org
Exceptional Parent – http://www.eparent.com/mobility/accessible-travel-guide-resources-2016/
National Multiple Sclerosis Society – www.nationalmssociety.org
