In a historic announcement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will be investing $8 million to train current primary medical care and physician assistant students, as well as medical residents, in providing appropriate care for individuals with physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities.
This funding will also provide training on how to communicate with patients who are not proficient in speaking English. This investment will be part of HRSA’s mission to improve access to health care for underserved and marginalized groups and will be distributed among 18 schools.
Said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson of the initiative:
“By helping medical schools and primary care residency programs build trainees’ skills and give them hands-on experience caring for individuals with physical or developmental disabilities and individuals with limited English proficiency, we are investing in building a workforce that matches what communities need.”
Despite often being one of the largest groups to need exceptional health care teams, many primary care physicians are not equipped to serve patients with disabilities. In a 2022 survey, only 41% of the 700 surveyed physicians felt confident in their ability to provide the same quality of care to people with disabilities than those without.
This same survey additionally found that only 57% of respondents openly welcome people with disabilities into their practice. Barely hitting the halfway mark on both of these questions, researchers concluded that improvements in medical education and training would be essential in improving health care conditions with people with disabilities.
As part of HRSA’s financial commitment, the department will be providing training to medical students on how to best communicate with and treat patients with physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities. Students will be trained in the classroom and in clinical scenarios.
It was also found that individuals with limited English proficiency experience poorer health outcomes and provider experiences on a disproportionate level. In a 2021 study done in Spanish amongst Hispanic adults by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 35% expressed difficulties in finding a doctor who was able to explains things in a way they could understand. Additionally, 17% of surveyors who completed the same questionnaire in English stated a similar concern.
For this particular matter, HRSA’s investments will provide primary care trainees with courses in language skill development and fluency, along with hands-on experience in communicating with patients with limited English proficiency.
Providing the incoming generation of doctors with the proper training to make their practices accessible for both people with disabilities and those who are not proficient in English will hopefully lead to more informed diagnoses, better treatment options, a destigmatization of doctor visits and a significant decrease in discrimination.
The awarded funds were distributed among 18 universities and medical programs at a minimum of $300,000 and a maximum of over $600,000. The schools selected for these funds and training were:
- University of California, Los Angeles
- The Leland Stanford Junior University
- Idaho State University
- University of Illinois
- University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, INC
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
- RU School of Osteopathic Medicine
- Long Island Jewish Medical Center
- The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
- Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
- Thomas Jefferson University
- The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education
- Texas A&M University System Health Science Center
- Baylor College of Medicine
- University of Utah
- Community Health of Central Washington
- West Virginia University Research Corporation
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra additionally remarked of the historic investment:
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to improving health equity and ensuring that all patients have access to health care providers with the training and skills to meet their needs… We are making it easier for a person with a physical or developmental disability or who speaks limited English to see a physician who understands them and their health care needs.”
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