Desired Preparedness and Attitudes of Health Care Providers Toward Patients with Disabilities: Qualitative Research with Welfare Professionals

Background Ensuring access to healthcare for persons with disabilities (PWDs) is an important issue and is being addressed in many countries. Although Japan recently enacted the Disability Discrimination Law, the concept of reasonable consideration is not widespread. Objectives This study examined the challenges and preferred responses experienced by support professionals accompanying PWDs to medical institutions, aiming to identify effective practices for improving medical visits. Methods Interviews were conducted with 37 welfare professionals in disability services, focusing on their experiences of the issues and effective practices in medical institutions. Data was transcribed and thematic analysis was employed to generate themes by coding specific events or episodes as medical experiences of PWDs. Results Analysis identified four themes: “issues with the response of medical institutions/healthcare staff,” “preferred response of healthcare staff,” “expected response of hospitals,” and “efforts of PWDs and welfare professionals to secure appropriate care.” The following subthemes from “the preferred response of healthcare staff” included “understanding the situation and needs associated with disabilities” and “finding effective communication methods for each patient.” Additionally, a recurring issue was “not respecting the disabled patient as an independent person”. Conclusion The training and education for medical professionals must include provisions required by PWDs, including their culture and values. Welfare professionals are committed to improving healthcare accessibility, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between healthcare and welfare professionals to foster meaningful change. Practice Implication: There is a need for a dissemination training program for medical professionals to understand the issues faced by PWDs, including their subjective experiences and values. Healthcare organizations must accumulate know-how and share knowledge of needs and reasonable accommodations. Trial registration: This study is a descriptive study and not an intervention on human participants.