Health care disparities, boiled down
The issue of health care for disabled
people is a heavily multi-pronged issue. In the United States (I know
health care disparities are rampant and this is not a solely
U.S.-centric topic, but I may follow up with more depending on
sources that can be located), many
disabled people live in poverty, making it difficult to access
health care and health insurance. Barriers are not just economic, but
also racial. Disabled
people of color are more likely to experience health care barriers.
Accessing health care friendly
toward transgender people is also difficult.
I have watched people I know struggle
with pain because doctors do not seem adequately prepared to interact
with disabled people, and almost
be denied lifesaving treatment due to disability and weight.*
Individuals with disabilities also
have symptoms chalked up to their disability. A study notes
that “In
general, PWD do not feel health care professionals are adequately
prepared to treat them, and
do not possess the skills to effectively communicate and develop
trusting relationships with PWD.” The
National Council on Disability reported in 2009 that “the
absence of professional training on disability competency issues for
health care practitioners is one of the most significant barriers
that prevent people with disabilities from receiving appropriate and
effective health care.” I have read the stories of many people here
refusing to accommodate them, such as informing them they don't “look
disabled enough,” or assuming that because they are disabled they
have no communication.
In
addition, the Disability
Rights and Education Fund reported that “PWD of color or who
are members of other minority groups are very likely to be
encountering instances and forms of “double discrimination” that
no single movement is effectively identifying or actively working to
address.” For
instance, this article covers issues of double-edged swords between
hiding pain or openly suffering for black women with disabilities.
Further,
in addition to not being prepared to communicate effectively, the
economic barriers tend to be massive. In
2009, the CDC released a brief that in all states, people with
disabilities cited economic barriers as reasons for not receiving
adequate health care. In the same year, the National Council on
Disability noted that people with disabilities were not
considered a group with significant disparities in health care,
which does not encourage action on the part of the government to
improve healthcare for disabled people. Action is required on the
part of the government to recognize disabled people as a group
experiencing health care disparities.
While
the federal government released a report in November 2010, Healthy
People 2020, which “among its objectives for people with
disabilities, Healthy People 2020 includes reducing unemployment,
increasing the accessibility of new and retrofitted housing,
other issues will need to be addressed by the federal government in
order to provide these things, such as banning the subminimum wage
for disabled people, as New Hampshire recently did so that employed
disabled persons can receive more money, and a stronger focus on
community integration, with increased funding for Home and
Community-Based Settings.
It's
not all on the government, of course. We have to work to end stigma
here as well, especially among nondisabled peers. But funding and
training for physicians and those in the medical field would
go
a long way.
*Amanda Baggs, mentioned in the poem, has changed hir name to Mel Baggs and uses sie/hir pronouns.
