Striving Toward Equity in Health Care for People With Communication Disabilities

Abstract

Purpose: Approximately 10% of the U.S. adult population has a speech, language, and/or voice disability, collectively referred to as communication disabilities. An increasing number of studies demonstrate that persons with communication disabilities have worse health and health care outcomes as compared to those without communication disabilities. Understanding the state of the science, including potential contributing factors is critical to begin to address the disparities. Method: Applying a historical lens and integrating multiple models of disability provide a comprehensive perspective of the health and health care outcomes of persons with communication disabilities. Results: Three phases for addressing health care disparities exist: detecting, understanding, and reducing. Results from a 2012 National Health Interview Survey provide compelling population-level results of the health and health care disparities experienced by persons with communication disabilities. To understand the disparities, factors within the health care system, such as availability of communication aids and services, as well as provider and staff biases, assumptions, and lack of knowledge need to be considered. To date, few interventions exist to address disparities in care for persons with communication disabilities. Consequently, researchers need to engage with stakeholders in innovative study designs and methods to facilitate the rapid development, implementation, and dissemination of interventions that address the disparities. Conclusion: To ensure equity for the large and growing population of persons with communication disabilities, researchers, policy makers, patients, and health care systems need to collaborate in identifying and addressing the factors contributing to health and health care disparities.

Enhancing comfort of resident physicians treating adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by facilitating meaningful interactions

“…Notably, after one interactive session, residents reported decreased perceived barriers in communicating with and understanding patients with IDD. The current body of literature supports the need for increased training in communicating with people with IDD; ( 28 ) however, most educational programs currently in place are didactic in nature ( 7 , 8 ). Interestingly, in our study, when presented with options of activities that could potentially increase resident comfort in providing medical care for patients with IDD, residents rated “more interactions with people with IDD” higher than they rated “more didactics.”…”

A Call for Transformative Intersectional LPAA Intervention for Equity and Social Justice in Ethnosocially Diverse Post-Stroke Aphasia Services

“…Transformative intervention methods are critical to minimize the disparities in health care highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Devakumar et al, 2020;Lo ´pez et al, 2021). Drawing from transformative research methods (Mertens, 2009;O'Reilly-de Bru ´n et al, 2016;Watson-Singleton et al, 2023), adapting qualitative research strategies to transform aphasia intervention in ethnogeriatric contexts will engage the voices of PWAs and their caregivers from marginalized groups to drive the clinical process and assist to minimize disparities. Client-and caregiver-informed input in ethnogeriatric aphasia care can generate socially authentic descriptions of the sociopolitical ecosystem driving personal quality of life as well as health, care, and outcomes.…”

Research to Advance Health and Health Care Equity for People With Communication Disabilities: An Overview of Research Symposium Papers

“…This forum highlights three papers from the symposium that again represent a range of ages and populations. In the first article, Morris (2022) outlines the literature on disability health and health care disparities experienced by persons with communication disabilities. She discusses how models of disabilities contribute to how we define and perceive disability and how these models can inform how we approach and attempt to mitigate the effects of disparities.…”