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The Partners for Advancing Health Equity (P4HE) Resource Library is a virtual portal containing action-oriented health equity research, practice, and policies. The library aims to increase equity in health by offering free access to field-tested, evidence-informed and evidence-based programs strategies and high-quality research.


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  • Practicing clinicians are calling for it to be “mandatory for all medical students.” The Curriculum in IDD Healthcare (CIDDH) teaches the fundamentals of IDD healthcare, providing learners with pertinent, practical information that can be used immediately in their practices to improve outcomes, reduce suffering, and prevent unnecessary death in their patients with intellectual and developmental…
    January 2023
    Services & Programs
  • People with disabilities represent a large and often under-recognized minority population in the United States. Historically, negative healthcare provider perceptions and limited critical social determinants of health (including community living and education) have resulted in inequitable healthcare and access for this vulnerable group. Within the last 40 years, there have been some advances in…
    November 2022
    Social/Structural Determinants
  • There are numerous health inequities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). They experience lower rates of preventive screening; higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease; lower life expectancy; and higher rates of pregnancy complications. If that’s not enough, they have been at nearly six times greater risk of dying from COVID-19.What is driving…
    October 2022
    Illness/Disease/Injury/Wellbeing, Social/Structural Determinants
  • Background: One in four American adults reports having at least one disability. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted people with disabilities and widened already-existing health disparities and inequities. For many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), these disparities are compounded by literacy limitations that make it challenging to access, understand…
    October 2022
    Policy and Practice
  • This article in the Boston Globe reports on a study which discovered specific challenges that people with disabilities face when trying to access healthcare. #P4HEwebinarMarch2023
    October 2022
  • People with disabilities face barriers when attempting to gain access to health care settings. Using qualitative analysis of three physician focus groups, we identified physical, communication, knowledge, structural, and attitudinal barriers to care for people with disabilities. Physicians reported feeling overwhelmed by the demands of practicing medicine in general and the requirements of the…
    October 2022
  • Backgroundd/Deaf people suffer from inequitable access to healthcare and health information. This results in worse health literacy and poorer mental and physical health compared to hearing populations. Various interventions aimed at improving health equity for d/Deaf people have been documented but not systematically analyzed. The purpose of this systematic review is to obtain a global overview…
    August 2022
    Services & Programs, Education
  • Background:Women with intellectual and developmental disabilities face poorer reproductive and pregnancy outcomes partially due to health care inequity. Our objective was to conduct a scoping review of reproductive and pregnancy related health care among women with intellectual and developmental disabilities.Methods:We systematically reviewed three databases for keywords pertaining to pregnancy,…
    May 2022
    Maternal/Child Health, Reproductive/Sexual Health
  • Incorporated in 1992, the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association (DDNA) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit nursing specialty organization committed to advocacy, education, and support for nurses who provide services to persons with developmental disabilities (DD). (author introduction)
    January 2022
    Policy and Practice
  • The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the inequities of the healthcare system that exist for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. For many people with IDD and caregivers, receiving care in a hospital setting has always been a challenging experience. We know that training in this area is lacking. Education and experiential learning for healthcare professionals is essential…
    December 2021
    Policy and Practice
  • The 2020-21 school year demanded something brand new—shaped by the needs of students, families and educators facing unprecedented challenges. In this crisis, existing inequities grew worse. They required targeted solutions and a reimagining of the status quo. The best solutions were designed to help students and families least supported by the system. And those solutions proved widely…
    October 2021
    Education, Ableism
  • Definition and prevalence of Intellectual DisabilityIntellectual disability (ID) is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning (e.g. reasoning, learning, problem solving) and in adaptive behavior in a range of everyday social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18 years. Etiologies of ID include, but are not restricted to: cerebral…
    July 2021
    Illness/Disease/Injury/Wellbeing
  • BackgroundPeople with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) appear to be at greater risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19. The roles of congregate living and skilled nursing care needs in this disparity are unclear.ObjectiveTo determine the impact of residential setting and level of skilled nursing care on COVID-19 outcomes for people receiving IDD services, compared to those not…
    April 2021
    COVID-19/Coronavirus
  • Autism research has a race problem. Despite improvements in screening and diagnosis, autism continues to be underdiagnosed in Black and Hispanic children, and those who obtain a diagnosis often have limited access to support services. Racial disparities persist during the transition to adulthood, with autistic adults from racial and ethnic minority groups experiencing a number of challenges,…
    December 2020
    Mental/Behavioral Health
  • This special webinar series explores how climate change affects low-income people, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, people of color and other people who are at increased risk due to climate change. In addition, presenters will suggest what is needed to prevent illness, disability, and death from climate change-related conditions among these and other Connecticut residents. Each webinar was held for one…
    December 2020
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990 to help remove barriers in the workplace and in daily life for people with disabilities. As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the law, let’s examine the barriers to employment for those with disabilities. In July 2019, 47.5 percent of people age 16 and older with a disability who were not employed (either unemployed or not in the labor…
    July 2020
    Policy and Practice
  • Background: Globally, people with intellectual disabilities and/or autism experience health inequalities. Death occurs at a younger age and the prevalence of long-term morbidities is higher than in the general population. Despite this, their primary healthcare access rates are lower than the general population, their health needs are often unmet, and their views and experiences are frequently…
    July 2020
    Policy and Practice
  • Up to 40% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience co-occurring mental illness. Despite the prevalence of mental health needs among people with IDD, little is known about the best approaches for supporting the needs of people with IDD and co-occurring mental health challenges and their families. This uncertainty has led to the dependence on outdated and…
    November 2019
    Policy and Practice
  • Over the past 20 years, services and supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have changed significantly. The vast majority of adults with IDD now live in home and community-based settings rather than institutions. Data are collected on the IDD population's use of public programs (e.g., Medicaid and Social Security), their places of residence, and their…
    September 2019
    Services & Programs
  • Care providers are key agents in the lives of individuals with an intellectual disability (ID). The quality of their support can be affected by manifestations of stigma. This scoping review was conducted to explore studies that provide indications of care providers’ stigmatization of people with ID. Methods: A structured search was made in four databases to identify relevant studies in English-…
    July 2019
    Isms and Phobias
  • Patients with a history of intellectual disability (ID) have been noted to experience pain more frequently and to a higher degree than the general population. Previously referred to as “mental retardation,” ID occurs in approximately 1% of the population. A diagnosis of ID is generally based upon the presence of an intelligence quotient score below a specific level, along with noted impairments…
    April 2019
    Illness/Disease/Injury/Wellbeing
  • Background: Patient-centered care for people with disability requires effective communication and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).Objective: To understand physicians’ perspectives on communication experiences with people with disability.Design: Twenty semi-structured individual interviews. Interview recordings were transcribed verbatim for analysis.Setting: Massachusetts…
    March 2019
    Policy and Practice
  • The Office of Developmental Primary Care facilitated two discussion groups in order to learn more about the experiences of people with disabilities and their families in accessing the health care system. Discussion topics included communication, personal life values, changes in or loss of function, medical decision-making, and end of life care conversations. Our ultimate purpose was to uncover…
    January 2019
  • Background: Equitable access to health services is a key ingredient in reaching health for persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. So far, research on access to health services in low- and middle-income countries has largely relied on self-reported survey data. Realizing that there may be substantial discrepancies between perceived and actual access, other methods are needed for…
    June 2018
    Services & Programs
  • Objective: To delineate the factors inherent in caring for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) that lead to complexity and to provide perspectives and techniques mapped to the phases of the clinical encounter.Sources of information: The authors of the physical health section of the 2018 Canadian consensus guidelines on the primary care of adults with IDD consisted of…
    April 2018
    Policy and Practice

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