Four in ten adults with disabilities experienced unfair treatment in health care settings, at work, or when applying for public benefits in 2022
Four in ten adults with disabilities experienced unfair treatment in health care settings, at work, or when applying for public benefits in 2022
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Gonzalez, Dulce, author
Kenney, Genevieve M., author
Karpman, Michael, author
Morriss, Sarah, (Of Urban Institute), author - Contributor(s):
- Health Policy Center (Urban Institute), issuing body.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, issuing body. - Publication:
- Washington, DC : Urban Institute, October 2023
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Disability Discrimination
Persons with Disabilities
Health Inequities
Health Policy
Health Services Accessibility -- statistics & numerical data
Healthcare Disparities
Social Determinants of Health
Treatment Delay -- statistics & numerical data
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Adults with disabilities in the United States have worse self-reported physical and mental health status, lower employment rates, and higher rates of chronic illness, poverty, and material hardship than adults without disabilities. Despite important federal antidiscrimination protections, disabled people also continue to experience discrimination and unfair treatment in health care settings, workplaces, and when applying for public benefits. Experiences of unfair treatment in these settings can reinforce health and economic disparities by limiting access to employment opportunities and services that are essential for meeting basic needs. Efforts to improve the health and well-being of people with disabilities will, therefore, require addressing unequal treatment and ableism - a set of biases and institutional practices rooted in the belief that people with disabilities are inferior. In this brief, we used nationally representative survey data to better understand the extent to which adults experience differential treatment because of their disabilities and other personal characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, and income, and the impact of such treatment on their wellbeing. Drawing on December 2022 data from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, we examined self-reported rates at which adults ages 18 to 64 with and without disabilities felt they were treated or judged unfairly in the past year in three settings: at doctors’ offices, clinics, or hospitals (hereafter referred to as health care settings); at work; and when applying for public benefits (which we also refer to as social service settings). Our measure of disability conforms to federal data collection standards for surveys and is defined as having difficulties with one or more of the following: hearing; seeing; concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; walking or climbing stairs; dressing or bathing; doing errands alone; and communicating in one’s own language.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (23 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918734183306676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918734183306676