Health Educations Blindspot on Disability

Interprofessional Student Poster Description:
Background: Persons with a disability (PWD) make up the largest minority in the US with estimated numbers from 2021 claiming that 27%of Americans are currently living with a disability.1 The CDC and NIDILRR both expect the number of PWD in the US to grow until a peak in 2030.1,2 The CDC reports that PWD are at 2-3 times more likely to experience obesity, smoking, heart disease, and diabetes on top of their disability which can lead to them requiring a large care team with a variety of health professionals.1 PWD are more likely to experience barriers to receiving proper health care such as the cost or a physicians lack of awareness.1,4,5

Design: Literature review of PubMed and google scholar for articles published after 2015 that describe the current methods used for disability training in graduate level health professions.

Results: An article from 2017 estimated that only 23% of medical schools in the US include disability awareness training into their curriculum.5 Understanding disability needs can help teams work together and lower overall cost of health services.6 Multiple studies have been published on the benefits seen in health profession students from taking elective classes directly focused on disability education.

Conclusion: Current disability education for health professions is coming primarily from elective classes despite the very high chance that all health professionals will have to treat a person with a disability. Given the high prevalence of disability in the USA, health education needs to adapt their curriculum to provide the greatest improvement in health equity. Students from a variety of health professions benefit from experiencing direct contact with a PWD.

Reflection: Research indicates that direct contact with individuals with disabilities is important for building professional competence across multiple health fields. Awareness of disability is needed across all health fields as the prevalence of disability continues to rise in the US. Current reviews indicate a gap in the health curriculum regarding contact with people with disabilities. A change to health education to include direct experiences with PWD is needed to progress health equity.