What Can You Do to Fight Disability Discrimination in Healthcare? 

The coordinator for PAL who is discussing this topic seems to give a very personal approach to this video. PAL she states is a company that addresses mental health needs in people with disabilities. He statements such as 700 physicians across the US play a role in health disparities to those with disabilities. Physicians in various studies on this subject commented that they had little to no training on the subject, they don’t feel obligated to provide accommodations, they have time constraints related to these patients, and that they feel when interacting with the patient they become the caregiver rather than the person directing their care. Physicians she states, even try to discharge patients early due to disabilities and often won’t accept them as new patients. Many disabled people in the studies she references are now pursuing lawsuits due to some of the reasons listed above. In fact 76% are pursuing lawsuits. Ethically speaking, providers critically lack the knowledge necessary to care for disabled people with a wide range of disabilities or even disabilities at all. These people are also rarely ever prioritized on the patient list. I speculate this might be because doctors might feel that they can help the disables less and therefore they are helpless but this is simply not the case. Equity and social justice must be promoted for these populations in order to ensure ethical care of them. This especially concerns policymakers who determine discrimination policies, facility improvements, and even transportation availability for these people. Also, mental health status needs to be recognized as a disability as she rightfully states. All types of disabilities require accommodations. Physicians have the obligation to find out more about these patients and advocate on their behalf to improve their circumstances and overall wellbeing.