Infusing disability equity within rehabilitation education and practice: A qualitative study of lived experiences of ableism, allyship, and healthcare partnership.
Heather A Feldner, Heather D Evans, Katherine Chamblin and 4 others
PMID 36188899WHAT IT FOUND
Disabled students, staff, and faculty described ableism as common in healthcare: symptoms dismissed, lived expertise ignored, and communication voices ignored.
Allyship was rarer and meant active listening, direct communication, accessible spaces, and working with patients as partners.
Key findings
01Participants reported that healthcare providers minimized, dismissed, or disbelieved their symptoms and challenged their lived expertise about their bodies.
02Participants who use assisted or alternative communication described having their voices ignored altogether in healthcare encounters.
03Positive healthcare experiences involved active listening, accessible environments, and providers acting as partners in advocacy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This is a small study at a single institution, so it cannot tell you how common these experiences are for all disabled patients. Participants were highly educated, well-resourced, and self-selected, so people with less advocacy or resources may have different experiences. The team shared definitions and questions in advance, which may have shaped how participants described ableism and allyship. The study reports experiences, not tested outcomes, so it cannot show that any allyship practice improves care.
Declared interests
The work was supported by University of Washington internal grants, and the authors declared no commercial or financial relationships.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the proposed TRAC allyship roadmap as evidence that it improves patient care. The study reports participants' experiences and uses them to design future training, not tested clinical outcomes.