ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement L-Z 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 23
WONCA 2023 Supplement 2: WONCA 2023 abstracts (L–Z)
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Giving voice to persons with disabilities (PWD): PWDs as
patient educators for a more inclusive healthcare
Dr Vivien Lee1,2, Alise Tu1,2, Jeffrey Jiang1,3, Dr Anna Szücs1, Prof Jose Maria Valderas Martinez1,
Dr Victor W K Loh1
1
National University Singapore, 2National University Polyclinics, 3St Luke’s Hospital
Background
Globally, persons with disabilities (PWD) face barriers to inclusive healthcare. As the crucible for
medical professional identity formation par none, medical schools are felicitous for moulding
student attitudes toward PWDs, and influencing how future doctors may impact social and physical
environments for greater PWD healthcare inclusivity.
A four-hour workshop for third-year undergraduate medical students titled Communications With
Persons With Disabilities was designed with PWD advisors and initiated in 2022. The workshop,
developed after Kolb’s experiential learning model, comprised pre-event videos and readings, a
plenary, followed by in-person fishbowl discussions where participants observed peer-volunteers
engaging with patient educators. These patient educators were PWDs who enacted clinical
conundrums of disabilities (hearing, vision, mobility) resembling their own experiences. Tutors
facilitated group reflection and sharing to deepen learning.
Methods
Students were surveyed pre- and post-workshop. Items included demographic data, the Attitude
Towards Disabled Persons (ATDP)-O scale, qualitative reflections and feedback questions. Descriptive
analysis was used for demographic and feedback questions, and thematic analysis for reflections.
Paired t-tests were used to evaluate any change in ATDP-O scores.
Results
The response rate was 58.3% (n = 35, N = 60). Only one student found that education about PWDs
in medical school had been adequate so far. Most (n = 33; 94.3%) enjoyed the workshop and agreed
or strongly agreed that the workshop was relevant to their future career as doctors. Attitudes towards
PWDs significantly improved after the workshop (ATDP-O +11.66, max 120; P < 0.001).
Discussion and conclusions
While the workshop attained a demonstrable difference in students’ attitudes toward PWDs, further
research should study the longitudinal effect of this difference. Importantly, by staking PWDs as
patient educators, the workshop brings the PWDs’ voice into the medical curriculum and sensitises
tomorrow’s doctors to the health and social needs of PWDs.
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