Helpful Insights: Article on Direct Support Professionals’ Perspectives During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disability and Health Journal published a free article describing “direct support professionals’ experiences assisting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in accessing virtual and in-person health care during COVID-19.”

The article summary highlights that: “24 percent of direct support professionals reported supporting someone at an in-person medical appointment, 22 percent reported attending at least one video-based virtual appointment and 58 percent reported supporting at least one phone based virtual appointment in the first 5 months of the pandemic. They identified several barriers and facilitators with each type of visit which suggests there is no ‘single way’ to provide health care to this group, but that optimal care depends on maximizing the fit between the person’s abilities, the skill set of direct support professionals and health care providers, and the presenting health care issue.”