Data shows that only roughly half of physicians “strongly” agreed that they would welcome patients with disability into their practices (Iezzoni et al., 2021). More than four- fifths of physicians reported that people with significant disabilities have a “worse” quality of life than people without disabilities. Only two-fifths reported feeling “very confident” in their ability to provide the same quality of care to people with disability that they provide to people without disabilities (Iezzoni et al., 2021); this reveals a sobering reality about provider variables that impact healthcare in this country for disabled individuals. First, these results show that practitioners do not welcome individuals with disabilities into their practices. Second, they also reveal that providers are not immune to adopting stereotypes about disabled individuals. Finally, this data highlights that training for practitioners is well below what is needed to service a country with increasing rates of disabled individuals. Without appropriate training and awareness, healthcare providers hold incorrect assumptions and stereotypes about people with disabilities, which can affect every aspect of care and result in inadequate and inappropriate care. Counseling training programs need to incorporate more training about disability, including disability cultural competence. While graduate training in disabilities can help enhance this population's knowledge and awareness, life experience and exposure have also been shown to predict competence and working with disabled individuals. Derocher et al. (2020) found that disability- related life experience significantly predicted all three domains of disability competence in counselor training. In contrast, completing a multicultural counseling course significantly predicted only self-perceived knowledge. These findings might be expected, given that academic courses focus strongly on knowledge development and that skill development may not be the focus of introductory multicultural courses. These findings validate the relevance of disability-related life experience and multicultural counseling course completion to self-perceived disability competence. These data also highlight the need for daily interactions and personal exposure to individuals with disabilities. COVID-19 and Disability The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected many who have historically faced significant barriers sexual orientation or gender identity. The “Q” in the abbreviation stands for queer. Queer is an adjective used by some people whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual or straight. This umbrella term includes people who have nonbinary, gender-fluid, or gender- nonconforming identities. Once considered a pejorative term, queer has been reclaimed by some LGBTQIA+ people to describe themselves; however, it is not a universally accepted term even within the LGBTQIA+ community. The number of individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is 7%, double the number reported in 2012 (Jones, 2022). Mental Health in LGBTQ Populations According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), “LGB adults are more than twice as likely as heterosexual adults to experience a mental health condition” (Bentley,
to employment, including people with disabilities, compounding the economic hardships many with disabilities faced before the pandemic. Moreover, those with chronic illness and disabilities (CID) may be especially vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). CID refers to any illness, health condition, or physical/mental impairment that substantially limits an individual’s ability to perform one or more major life activities and their ability to interact with the world around them (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Examples of CID include developmental disability (e.g., intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder), neurological disability (e.g., brain injury, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis), physical and sensory disability (e.g., visual/hearing impairments, arthritis, and amputation), psychiatric disability (e.g., depression, anxiety disorder), and chronic health condition (e.g., diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The COVID-19 pandemic is already likely to impact individuals with CID negatively as they may experience increased mental health concerns and stress associated with the fear of contracting the virus and needing to social distance or quarantine (Pfefferbaum & North, 2020) and reduced access to essential healthcare services (due to health facility closures) and limited support networks (Courtenay & Perera, 2020; Tummers et al., 2020). Park et al. (2022) examined the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with disabilities. They found that compared with those without CID, individuals with CID were more likely to report that the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted their employment, and they were more often laid off or dismissed from their job. Next, individuals with CID reported significantly higher stress and lower life satisfaction than those without CID, regardless of the pandemic’s impact on employment. Third, regardless of their CID status, individuals whose employment was impacted reported significantly lower life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking at the Park et al. (2022) data more closely, we can see the impact of disability status on employment flexibility. Findings reveal that individuals with CID were more likely to be laid off or dismissed from employment compared with those without CID, whereas those without CID were more likely to be allowed to work from home compared with those with CID. 2021). Many people identifying as LGBTQIA+ face discrimination, family rejection, harassment, and fear of violence. “Like with any identity, feeling different or worse, unaccepted as you are a significant risk factor for mental health struggles” (Bentley, 2021). According to Bentley (2021), these statistics from Mental Health America demonstrate the concerning mental health challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community: ● LGBTQIA+ teens are six times more likely to experience symptoms of depression than non-LGBTQIA+ identifying teens. ● LGBTQIA+ youth are more than twice as likely to feel suicidal and more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth. ● Forty-eight percent of transgender adults report that they have considered suicide in the last year, compared to 4% of the overall U.S. population. Discrimination Until the 2015 Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage, LGBTQ individuals could not marry in most of the
Gender/Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning Population LGBTQ is an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. You may have also seen the abbreviation LGBTQIA+, which is an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. These terms describe a person’s
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Book Code: PYTX1226
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