My Life Matters! Honoring the Voice of the Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled and Other Marginalized Patients (TH332)

Our country is currently engaged in vital conversations about stereotyping and implicit bias. In attempts to root out our collective prejudices, we now appreciate the necessity to talk about the underlying thoughts, beliefs, and values that inform our everyday actions and behaviors. Though many of us are drawn to the work of hospice and palliative care to practice compassion and advocate for patients ’ values, we may not realize how implicit bias influences our practice. The Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled (IDD) population has a history of social injustice and wrongful medical treatment that accentuates the harm of implicit biases.

Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - January 23, 2019 Category: Palliative Care Authors: Heather Mikes, Lori Eckel Source Type: research