Why can it be so tough to find health care for adults with disabilities?

Everyone needs to go to a doctor from time to time. But for adults with disabilities, finding a medical provider can be a challenge.

A 2022 study published in the journal Health Affairs found some doctors try to avoid treating patients with disabilities because of feeling overwhelmed and inadequately reimbursed for accommodations they need to provide.

A lack of health care providers who feel comfortable with the adult population with developmental and intellectual disabilities has also been noted.

The director of the University of Cincinnati's Timothy Freeman, MD, Center for Developmental Disabilities recently appeared on Cincinnati Edition on 91.7 WVXU News.

Lauren Wang, MD, discussed how the center is positioning itself to train a new generation of doctors who are more prepared to treat those with disabilities, both physical and intellectual.

"At University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, the Freeman Center has really taken a lead to make sure that all students will receive training throughout all four years of their medical student education. And then we have elective experiences for students that are in their fourth year of medical school if they want to get more advanced training, and then we have those same electives through residency. And then we actually started one of the first fellowships, a developmental medicine fellowship, for one of the first fellowships in the country actually, to be able to train people who want to practice developmental medicine," said Wang.

She said many of the Freeman Center's patients have medical complexities, and so services offered include psychiatry, psychology, therapy, diatetics, pharmacy and physical medicine/rehabilitation.

She also updated listeners on the current work to expand the Freeman Center. It is now slated to open in September 2025 in a new location on Victory Parkway. Wang said it will be ten times larger than its current size and offer expanded services. The new location was designed with the needs of patients in mind, and so it will feature larger patient rooms to accommodate electric wheelchairs, adult changing tables, sensory adjustments etc.

Click here to listen to the full segment on WVXU.

Featured image at top: Lauren Wang, MD, director of the Freeman Center, examines a patient. Photo/UC Health.