Disabled People, Effective Practitioners: Enabling a Health Care Workforce that Better Reflects Society

Abstract

In this paper we will discuss the current tensions that exist between UK anti-discrimination legislation and the professional and statutory regulatory bodies (PSRBs) that govern registration of health and social care practitioners in the United Kingdom. The tensions arise from aspirations for a work force that reflects the wider community and the need to safeguard patient safety. We present an overview of the relevant legislation and the requirements of the main health and social care professional statutory and regulating bodies, whose overall aim is safeguarding the general public. Four individual case studies, which have drawn on qualitative and quantitative data to explore some of the ensuing challenges and seek resolutions, are discussed and their outcomes synthesised to make recommendations. Conducting research with disabled participants requires specific considerations; we reflect on these in this paper and discuss our experiential learning.

Perceptions of the possible impact of dyslexia on nursing and midwifery students and of the coping strategies they develop and/or use to help them cope in clinical practice

“…Dyslexia seem to impact on individual practice negatively as well as positively. The need to provide reasonable adjustment for dyslexic individuals seems to be good practice, although it is costly (Dearnley et al,2010). There is also limited evidence of their effectiveness in the clinical settings.…”

“…There is also very little written in terms of the appropriateness of such adjustments (Howlin et al,2014). Dearnley et al (2010) evaluated a mobile device for learning and assessment of disabled students and staff. Howlin et al (2014, p.565) also evaluated 'a clinical needs assessment' and explored 'associated support for disabled students'.…”

“…There was however a lack of evidence on the perceptions of dyslexic students of such strategies, in relation to their effectiveness. Moreover, there is little in terms of workbooks or guidance for mentors supporting individuals with dyslexia in the practice areas (Dearnley et al,2010). The RCN tool Kit (Cowen, 2010), although informative, it is lengthy and generic for those with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia.…”

Making the nursing curriculum more inclusive for students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD): Embedding specialist study skills into a core module

“…Tutor reinforced access to the assessment process and entitlements and broke down barriers around asking for support (Dearnley et al, 2011).…”

The State of Web Accessibility for People with Cognitive Disabilities: A Rapid Evidence Assessment

“…One policy and one set of guidelines appear to serve as the framework for the state policies reviewed. The United Nations (UN) Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the overarching policy that both informs and drives the EU and individual state policies [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Additionally, the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) serve as a foundation for EU and individual state policies.…”