Barriers to high quality healthcare for individuals with intellectual disabilities : doctoral capstone project and experience
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Meeting name
Sponsors
Date
Journal Title
Format
Project
Subject
Abstract
Communication barriers present significant challenges in delivering high-quality healthcare to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) (Cashin et al., 2024; Moloney et al., 2021; Phillips, 2019; Redley et al., 2019; Stein Duker et al., 2019). Both adults with IDD and healthcare professionals, specifically direct support persons or professionals (DSPs), often lack awareness of communication tools specific to healthcare, which can hinder the quality of care provided (Selick et al., 2019). Improving the knowledge of various communication tools can improve the quality of care provided to individuals with IDD. The purpose of this qualitative quality improvement (QI) study was to increase the quality of healthcare provided to individuals with IDD by increasing education to DSPs at a not-for-profit organization who serves this population. The intervention method included an educational program and materials developed to enhance knowledge and understanding among adults with IDD and DSPs regarding communication tools utilized in healthcare systems globally. Conduction of methods and data analysis was completed through implementation of pre and post surveys to the DSPs at the organization. Following the implementation of an educational program, findings revealed an increase in comfort with two healthcare communication tools by DSPs, as well as improved self-performance and satisfaction in navigating healthcare visits by DSPs. Despite these improvements, many participants reported being neutral or unlikely to use the tools in regular practice due to utilization barriers. This QI project demonstrated that an educational and training program increased DSPs comfort with healthcare communication tools and improved their self-perceived ability to navigate healthcare visits. However, there were challenges and limitations during the study process.
Table of Contents
DOI
PubMed ID
Degree
OTD