1. "I am afraid of being treated badly if I show it": A cross-sectional study of healthcare accessibility and Autism Health Passports among UK Autistic adults.
- Author
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Grant A, Turner S, Shaw SCK, Williams K, Morgan H, Ellis R, and Brown A
- Subjects
- Humans, Female, Adult, United Kingdom epidemiology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Male, Pregnancy, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult, Middle Aged, Anxiety epidemiology, Communication Barriers, Social Stigma, Adolescent, Autistic Disorder psychology, Autistic Disorder epidemiology, Health Services Accessibility
- Abstract
Background: Autistic people are more likely to experience stigma, communication barriers and anxiety during healthcare. Autism Health Passports (AHPs) are a communication tool that aim to provide information about healthcare needs in a standardised way. They are recommended in research and policy to improve healthcare quality., Aim: To explore views and experiences of AHPs among Autistic people from the UK who have been pregnant., Methods: We developed an online survey using a combination of open and closed questions focused on healthcare impairments and views and experiences of AHPs. Data were anlaysed using descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and content analysis., Findings: Of 193 Autistic respondents (54% diagnosed, 22% undergoing diagnosis and 24% self-identifying), over 80% reported anxiety and masking during healthcare always or most of the time. Some significant differences were identified in healthcare (in)accessibility by diagnostic status. Only 4% of participants knew a lot about AHPs, with 1.5% of participants using one at least half of the time. Almost three quarters of respondents had not previously seen an AHP. Open text responses indicated that the biggest barrier to using an AHP was a belief that health professionals would discriminate against Autistic patients. Additional barriers included staff lack of familiarity with AHPs and respondents expecting a negative response to producing an AHP., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that AHPs are not reducing health inequalities for Autistic adults who have been pregnant. Alternative solutions are needed to reduce health inequalities for Autistic people., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: AG is a non-executive Director of Disability Wales. SS is the research lead for Autistic Doctors International, a peer support and advocacy group which is not a legal entity. KW is a non-executive director for Autistic UK a Community Interest Company. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. None of the three individuals receive a salary for these affiliations. The organisations did not have any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The remaining authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Grant 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.)
- Published
- 2024
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