Ethical Care for Neurodivergent Patients: Combatting Systemic Ableism

This training will briefly review the medical code of ethics for doctors, nurses, and social workers around the importance of treating the whole patient. At that point, participants will briefly review what neurodivergence is and how at least 20% of the global population has a neurodivergent brain. Participants will discuss systemic ableism and how it affects care for neurodivergent patients. Understanding ableism is imperative to combating it. It is ethically required if providers are to do their jobs well. Participants will walk away with several practical things that can be done within 90 days to make access and treatment for meaningful for their patients – all of them.

Objectives:

1) Understand how ableism exists in the healthcare field.

2) Identify three concrete ways where ableism is built in to the systems.

3) Identify two actions that can be taken to combat systemic ableism for your neurodivergent patients.

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Hawaii Public Health Institute and the Western Region Public Health Training Center (WRPHTC). The WRPHTC is jointed accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continued Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.