Alte Menschen mit lebensbegleitender geistiger Behinderung im Akutkrankenhaus

Older people with a lifelong intellectual disability often do not have full access to health care services that are appropriate in terms of their more extensive and specific needs, or even the same health services as people without disabilities. In all healthcare settings, including acute care, they receive considerably less curative, health-promoting, preventative and rehabilitative services.

Any unequal treatment of this particularly vulnerable group of patients with (intellectual) disabilities may be expressed frequently as violations of their integrity and their dignity. Older people with lifelong intellectual disabilities often have medical problems that require acute hospital treatment. In this target group, health problems are not exclusively due to their disabilities, but are also caused by increased vulnerability, which is exacerbated by degenerative and age-related health problems. Furthermore, health burdens in this group sometimes occur as a result of lifelong health inequalities and a shortage of adequate health care services.

Structural and attitude-based discrimination practices in acute care hospitals can also contribute to increase existing vulnerabilities and exacerbate health problems. The aim of this article is to raise awareness of these interdependencies and to highlight crucial aspects of dignified and integrity-preserving care in acute hospitals.