Access barriers to healthcare for people living with disabilities
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Access barriers to healthcare for people living with disabilities Natalie Hamilton 1 & Oluwatoyin Olumolade 2 & Madelyn Aittama 1 & Olivia Samoray 1 & Maham Khan 1 & Jason Adam Wasserman 3 & Kirsten Weber 4 & Neli Ragina 1 Received: 21 April 2020 / Accepted: 22 September 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Aim This study elucidated healthcare access barriers to receiving adequate services among adults with disabilities. In particular, we utilized community focus groups to contrast urban and rural communities and target improvement in educational services, healthcare policy reform, and outreach programs for this underserved patient population. Subject and methods Focus groups and interviews were conducted with adults living with a wide range of physical and intellectual disabilities in 12 counties in the Mid-Michigan area. Data were analyzed using narrative coding and conceptualization techniques to identify emergent themes grounded in the data. Results Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) a lack of patient-centeredness that impedes the quality of care; (2) inadequate communication that marginalizes patients within the clinical encounter; (3) accessibility barriers that interfere with navigating the healthcare system. Conclusion Access to healthcare for people living with disabilities represents a significant challenge, especially in a rural setting. Although improved technology may make healthcare more efficient, the majority of patients with disabilities faced access barriers and implicated deficits in “patient-centered care” as a factor in poor health care experiences. Keywords Disability . Accessibility . Health equity . Patient-centeredness
Introduction People living with disabilities represent a large, underserved population, with 25.6% of adults in the United States having some type of disability (CDC 2019a). In the context of health care, these patients face numerous co-morbidities, which are exacerbated by barriers to access. On both physical and mental health measures, adults
with disabilities fare worse than their non-disabled counterparts. In Michigan, where this study was conducted, 45.7% of adults with disabilities rate their health as only fair or poor compared to only 8.3% of adults without disabilities (CDC 2019b). Moreover, 28.1% of adults with disabilities report having poor mental health compared to 8.4% of their non-disabled counterparts (CDC 2019b). Similar inequalities manifest for other chronic health
* Natalie Hamilton [email protected]
Kirsten Weber [email protected] Neli Ragina [email protected]
Oluwatoyin Olumolade [email protected] Madelyn Aittama [email protected]
1
Central Michigan University College of Medicine, 1280 E. Campus Dr., Mt Pleasant, MI 48858, USA
Olivia Samoray [email protected]
2
Central Michigan University College of Health Professions, 1280 E. Campus Dr, Mt Pleasant, MI 48858, USA
Maham Khan [email protected]
3
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, ODH 412, 586 Dr. Roch
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