Emergency Medicine

Background

Adults with IDD visit the emergency department (ED) at higher rates than the general population. ED visits can be very traumatizing for adults with IDD, due to environmental triggers such as noise, crowding and long wait times. There is little to no research about how to improve ED care for adults with IDD, and there are no studies examining their perspectives on ED care.

Our Research

We conducted interviews with adults with IDD and family members/caregivers of adults with IDD to ask about their experiences in the emergency department. We wanted to know what it was like getting to the emergency room, interacting with providers, and getting treated. We also wanted to know how disability, and other co-occuring disabilities, identities, and/or mental health conditions, affected their care and experience in the emergency department. Most of the people interviewed in our study had autism, or were parents of an adult child with autism.

We are currently analyzing our results. The link to the final paper will be published here when available.

Resources

Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disabilities

Improving Emergency Care for adults with Developmental Disabilities: A Toolkit for Providers

This Toolkit is an opportunity to share implementation tools with emergency providers who are interested in improving the care provided to patients with developmental disabilities (DD).

University of Hertfordshire Intellectual Disability and Health

Guidelines for Managing the Patient With Intellectual Disability in Accident and Emergency

A&E is generally a strange and unfamiliar environment for anyone. For persons with intellectual disabilities, the experience may be particularly scary because they may not understand what is happening around them.

UCSF Office of Developmental Primary Care

Working with Disabled People in the Emergency Department | Office of Developmental Primary Care

Trips to the Emergency Department (ED) can be particularly challenging for people with disabilities. The following pointers are intended to aid clinicians who work with people with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities in the ED context. While expediency and triaging may hinder opportunities to dialogue, clinicians may be surprised that a few minor shifts in communication can enhance the ED experience for all involved.