Si-Yi Chao1*, Keith B Wilson1 and Carrie L Acklin2
1Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education, University of Kentucky, USA
2Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling, University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA
*Corresponding Author: Si-Yi Chao, Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Received: September 30, 2020; Published: November 30, 2020
There is evidence that people with disabilities are more likely to be discriminated against and to have disproportionate health care disparities compared to people who are able-bodied during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. In light of COVID-19, telehealth has been transformed to the primary health care delivery due to social restrictions of most, globally. Disability-inclusive telehealth design can promote culturally diverse groups access and more accurate COVID-19 information, knowledge, public health measures, and guidelines of preventive strategies for acquiring COVID-19. Applying multicultural competencies is required for healthcare providers to maximize health engagement and outcomes of PWD. In many areas of health care, healthcare professionals recognize needs, expectations, and perceptions of diverse disability populations. That being said, healthcare professionals should implement appropriate interactions with a patient with a disability and provide culturally responsive telehealth services for other underrepresented groups as well. Hence, the multicultural competencies of healthcare professionals and disability responsive telehealth systems can assist PWD to mitigate health care disparities.
Keywords: People with Disabilities; COVID-19; Multicultural Competencies; Disability Inclusive; Telehealth; Accommodations
Citation: Si-Yi Chao., et al. “Multicultural Competencies of Healthcare Professionals and Disability-Inclusive in Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic”. Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 4.12 (2020): 124-132.
Copyright: © 2020 Si-Yi Chao., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.