Health Disparities In Individuals With Disabilities And Special Needs

People often use the words special needs and disability interchangeably. However, it is important to consider their meanings so as to use these words appropriately. Special needs is a concept that refers mostly to learning disabilities, and is largely related to education. Individuals who have special needs tend to have challenges such as autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, speech, communication, and language difficulties. Examples of special needs conditions include dyslexia or dyscalculia.

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Disabilities on the other hand refer to mental and physical inabilities (Kang et al., 2016)Health Disparities In Individuals With Disabilities And Special Needs. These are impairments in the physical and mental functionality of individual that include sensory impairments such as blindness, deafness, and inability to walk among others. It is important to note that special needs people are not disabled, and not all disabled people have special education needs.

People with special needs face disparities such as stigma and discrimination especially when trying to access healthcare. There are inflexible procedures, structures, and policies in healthcare organizations that leave out those with special needs (CDC, 2020)Health Disparities In Individuals With Disabilities And Special Needs. For instance, those with inability to read and are unaccompanied by a caregiver are likely to be considered  bothersome in the healthcare setting and receive minimal assistance. Such experiences also tend to limit their access to healthcare; especially if the individual is from a lower socioeconomic background. Race is another disparity that affects those with special needs, especially when it intersects with special needs, disability, and economic class of the individual. Those from minority races are more likely to struggle to access healthcare compared to white people.

Individuals with disabilities face disparities such as limited access to healthcare because of stigma and discrimination in care settings. The stigma and discrimination increases their risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders (Okoro et al., 2018). Their health is also likely to be at risk because of their limited physical activity, which predisposes them to obesity, which further risks their physical health by increasing their risk of coronary artery diseases, diabetes, heart failure, and kidney problems, among others (Peters, 2021)Health Disparities In Individuals With Disabilities And Special Needs. Another disparity for disabled individuals is engagement in risky behavior such as drinking and smoking to manage their depression and anxiety. Race is another disparity that also affects healthcare access and use by disabled people given that those in the minority races experience systemic racism such as lack of employment opportunities, being targeted for belonging to a particular minority race.

These disparities affect those with special needs and disabled people and their health. A noteworthy health impact in both populations is underused healthcare services which precipitate mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, which lead to low self esteem and suicidal ideation in some people, according to Bonuck & Hill (2020)Health Disparities In Individuals With Disabilities And Special Needs. The lack of physical activity because of physical and mental limitations also lead to obesity; which increases risk of diseases such as type II diabetes, coronary artery diseases, and visual impairment. Those with type II diabetes are likely to experience visual impairment, and sometimes blindness in worst case scenarios.

It is important to have healthcare workers adjust their attitudes towards those with special needs and disabilities to alleviate the stigmatization and discrimination of these populations. At the same, there need to be stringent measures taken against healthcare workers found discriminating those with special needs and disabilities. To add to this, it will help to provide the public with information on those with disabilities and special needs to eliminate behaviors such as rudely staring at them, or mistreating them (Sharby et al., 2015). The clinical settings should also eliminate physical barriers such as lofty switches and counters that limit interaction, providing rail bars to have those blind or with impaired legs ambulate properly. The government should also strive to provide this population with insurance coverage and subsidize their care costs to allow them access mental health services.

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CONCLUSION

Special needs is education related while disability is largely physical and mental impairment of an individual.
Both group experience disparities such as race, economic status, stigma and discrimination, depression and anxiety, and limited access to care.
Both groups are impacted with underused healthcare, depression and anxiety, CAD, obesity, and type II diabetes.
Eliminating the disparities will include actions such as punitive measures to discriminative healthcare workers, providing alternative sources of same information such as in Braille or audio format, enhancing the physical and built environment to accommodate the disabled, and subsidizing care costs and providing insurance coverage Health Disparities In Individuals With Disabilities And Special Needs.