ACE.D Additional Resources
Overview and Introduction to Disability
This Overview and Introduction to Disability is intended to provide nursing students and their nursing faculty with important information needed to use other materials and resources included in ACE.D site.
Aging with a Disability
Many individuals have a disability present from birth and others have a disability that is acquired during childhood or adulthood. Many of these individuals have a normal life span and live into older adulthood. One consequence of having a disability is a smaller margin of health or safety when it comes to health issues. As a result, it is important to anticipate the effect of aging on a person’s disability and the effect, in turn, of a person’s disability on the aging process.
Failure of health care providers to communicate effectively and appropriately with people with disabilities is a major barrier to delivery of quality health care for people with disabilities. The information in this document identifies general issues for communication with all people with disabilities followed by issues that may be specific to individuals with a variety of disabilities. If you are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with communication strategies, learn more about specific types of disability to increase your comfort level and communication skills.
Guide for Integrating Standardized Patients with Disabilities in Nursing Curriculum
People with disability (PWD) can assume roles as standardized patients (SPs) following training and practice. The cases available on the NLN ACE.D website describe certain disabilities (e.g., a woman following a stroke and a man with a history of an amputation), however, these cases and related physical disabilities could be modified easily if someone with a similar disability is available and willing to serve as a standardized patient.
Assessment of a Person with a Disability Checklist
Effective communication and interpersonal skills are essential in conducting any patient assessment; this includes making eye contact with the interviewee and being at the patient’s eye level. This requires sitting down to ensure that you are at the patient’s eye level and do not require the patient to look up to communicate with you if he or she in in a wheelchair or sitting in a chair or on a motorized scooter.
Pregnancy in Women with Disabilities
Although most women with disabilities are able to become pregnant, to have normal labor and delivery experiences, and to care for their children without problems, some women with disabilities have experiences that require some thought and advanced planning on the part of the women, their families, and their health care providers.
Disability is not a new concept and not something that has emerged as a result of increasing numbers of people affected. Rather, disability is an ancient concept that has existed for as long as people have existed. Although disability has not changed, our views of the meaning of disability have changed over time-for the better.
Definitions Related to Disability
This resource includes multiple definitions related to disability.
Why Disability Matters slides and slide narrative
The slide presentation is intended to introduce nursing faculty and nursing students to the topic of disability and provide the rationale for introducing disability content and concepts in undergraduate and graduate nursing education programs. Put another way, this set of slides is intended to answer the question: Why disability matters.
Users are asked to cite the source for these Villanova University developed resources as developed by the Villanova University College of Nursing and retrieved on the NLN website.