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America’s Health System Isn’t Ready for the Surge of Seniors With Disabilities (kffhealthnews.org)

submitted 2 years ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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The number of older adults with disabilities — difficulty with walking, seeing, hearing, memory, cognition, or performing daily tasks such as bathing or using the bathroom — will soar in the decades ahead, as baby boomers enter their 70s, 80s, and 90s.

But the health care system isn’t ready to address their needs.

That became painfully obvious during the covid-19 pandemic, when older adults with disabilities had trouble getting treatments and hundreds of thousands died. Now, the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health are targeting some failures that led to those problems.

One initiative strengthens access to medical treatments, equipment, and web-based programs for people with disabilities. The other recognizes that people with disabilities, including older adults, are a separate population with special health concerns that need more research and attention.

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[–] Drusas@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Among the practical consequences: Few clinics have height-adjustable tables or mechanical lifts that enable people who are frail or use wheelchairs to receive thorough medical examinations. Only a small number have scales to weigh patients in wheelchairs. And most diagnostic imaging equipment can’t be used by people with serious mobility limitations.

...
The new rule sets specific, enforceable standards for accessible equipment, including exam tables, scales, and diagnostic equipment. And it requires that electronic medical records, medical apps, and websites be made usable for people with various impairments and prohibits treatment policies based on stereotypes about people with disabilities, such as covid-era crisis standards of care.

How is the average GP's office supposed to afford this kind of equipment? It needs to be funded or subsidized by the federal government if we're going to expect every doctor to have access to this sort of expensive, specialized equipment.

Don't get me wrong: I'm all for requiring these things. I'm disabled myself. But you can't just magically expect small practices to be able to afford them.

[–] DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 years ago

Yes, funding from the federal government and hopefully a slippery slope into universal Medicare!