The disability-training needs of healthcare professionals: Scoping review and new initiatives

As individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are now living longer, attention has increased on various aspects of their health status and healthcare. On a host of measures, persons with IDD show higher rates of morbidity and mortality, as well as lower levels of care. At the same time, healthcare professionals are often inadequately trained to treat these individuals, but little understanding exists of specific training needs, differences across healthcare professions, or the types or timing of needed training. After documenting the so-called cascade of health disparities in the IDD population, we then used the scoping review methodology to identify 16 disability-related training publications across seven healthcare disciplines. Most articles were U.S.-based, utilized surveys, and focused about equally on pre- and post-service general practitioner physicians. Five reliably-coded themes emerged from the 16 publications: the healthcare providers' lack of knowledge, or knowledge gained through targeted interventions; positive attitudes toward caring for persons with IDD; improved healthcare professionals' self-efficacy in response to intervention; persistent difficulties communicating with or about individuals with IDD; and the sense that few IDD-specific health resources existed. To address this perception of a lack of disability-related health resources, we conclude by highlighting several new practical and policy initiatives designed to train and support healthcare providers as they treat individuals with IDD.