Access and Accessibility: Telehealth Considerations for Patients with Disabilities

According to the CDC, one quarter (26%) of U.S. adults, or approximately 61 million people, have some disability, with 13.7% of those adults having a mobility disability; 10.8% having a cognitive disability; 6.8% having an independent living disability;  5.9% being deaf or hard of hearing; 4.6% having a vision disability with blindness or difficulty seeing, and 3.6% having a self-care disability. It is also worth noting that 40% of adults aged 65 years and older have a disability, and 40% of non-Hispanic American Indians/Alaskan Natives have a disability. Rural citizens are more likely to have a disability than their urban counterparts, with one-third of adults in rural counties having a disability.

 Furthermore, people with disabilities generally tend to live with lower socioeconomic status due to systemic barriers and inequalities. People with disabilities, on average, have lower educational attainment, participate in the workforce at a lower rate, and have lower median earnings than people without a disability. In fact, 26% of people with a disability live below the poverty line, compared to a national average of 11.4%. Due to these factors, there are systemic barriers to obtaining much-needed public assistance and employment, which has negative effects on healthcare outcomes.

 People with disabilities are also more likely to live with chronic conditions and comorbidities than people without a disability, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and substance use disorders.

 From a population and public health standpoint, it is alarming that one in three adults with disabilities aged 18-44 years do not have a regular healthcare provider and have also reported having an unmet healthcare need due to cost in the past year. Additionally, one in four adults with disabilities aged 65 years or older did not have a routine check-up in the past year. The need for telehealth services to help bridge these gaps with patients are great, but there must be considerations when providing these services to these patients. Here are a list of resources that can help you understand and provide better care for patients with a disability.

 Great Lakes ADA ADA Great Lakes Center

• Telehealth/Disability/Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • Telehealth and the Deaf: A Comparison Study
  • Ensuring Full Participation of People with Disabilities in an Era of Telehealth (Article)
  • North Carolina DHHS, Deaf, Hard of Hearing Deafblind Telehealth Resources
• Telehealth/General Disability
  • Telemedicine and accessibility for patients with disabilities
  • Viewing Telehealth Policymaking Through the Lens of Disability
  • The Need for Disability-Inclusive Telehealth Services
  • Telehealth Use By Persons with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Telehealth/Disability/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
  • Virtual Health Care for Adult Patients with IDD
  • Telemedicine Treatment and Care for Patients with Intellectual Disability
  • Telehealth for Individuals with IDD during COVID-19
• Telehealth/Older Adults
  • Virtual Human Services for Different Populations
  • AARP/Telehealth Resources
  • Tech Guides/Telehealth for Seniors
• Telehealth/Language Access
  • How Health Systems Can Help Address Language Barriers to Achieve Digital Health Equity
  • Breaking the language barrier in telemedicine
  • Addressing Language Barriers in Patient-Provider Communication
  • Navigating Telehealth in LEP Populations
  • Understanding the Impact of Virtual Care on the LEP Patient
  • Using Telehealth to Care for LEP Patients
• Equipment and Training
  • http://www.icanconnect.org/
• Provider Guidelines for Telehealth Accessibility
  • https://tdiforaccess.org/covid-19/healthcare/
• Selected publications from the National Council on Disability
  • https://gov/publications/2021
• S. Access Board
  • https://www.access-board.gov/