Physicians say they need more training to help them treat people with intellectual disabilities

By Helen Henderson, in the Toronto Star:

Many people with disabilities do not feel safe in hospitals because they say health-care workers haven’t received adequate training on how to approach people with physical or intellectual differences.

“Hospitals are basically killing or nearly killing us with neglect and ignorance,” says Sandra Carpenter, acting executive director of the Center for Independent Living in Toronto. The center has been collecting stories from its members, aiming to use first-hand accounts as a lever for better education, communication and accountability throughout the system.

… A study in the latest edition of Canadian Family Physician says medical students want more training to help them treat people with intellectual disabilities.

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From the Los Angeles Times (registration required):

A new industry of caregivers is emerging to take care of the growing ranks of elderly who are staying alive longer, thanks to advances in medical care. Where adult children may once have been able to keep an eye on their elders, the globalized economy has drawn many to workplaces far from home.

… an industry of local care coordinators is emerging to bridge the gap between far-off relatives and aging parents who may be overwhelmed by the labyrinth of medical and other services designed to help the aged and infirm survive in their own homes.

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From the New York Times:

Experts and officials in New York say the home health care industry is fraught with a confusing hodgepodge of regulations and oversight agencies, leaving people who are disabled or elderly vulnerable to fraud and abuse.

… state officials do not even know precisely how many home health aides work in New York, though such figures are readily available for dozens of other state-regulated fields, from interior design to acupuncture.

“To make someone else’s home fabulous, you need a license and your name goes in a state registry,” said Jeffrey Lerner, a spokesman for the state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo. “But to care for someone in their home who is old and infirm, there is no central registry.”

Two New York schools for home health aides have admitted selling phony certificates to hundreds of people who never received proper training. The use of home health aides by people with disabilities has increased rapidly in recent years, as people seek to live more independently and health officials have sought to limit the costs associated with institutionalization. The rapidly growing field is only lightly regulated.

From the New York Times (registration required.)