The extraordinary vulnerability of people with disabilities: guidelines for oral health professionals.
In the last 40 years, there has been a dramatic shift in living arrangements for people with disabilities from large state institutions to community-based care. This shift has required communities to increase their clinical capacity including oral health care systems. Oral health professionals must be cognizant that the rate of abuse and neglect experienced by people with developmental disabilities and other special needs is at least four times the rate experienced by the general population. These trends have resulted in additional responsibility on community oral health professionals to provide oral health services for many people who formerly lived in state institutions including recognizing and reporting suspected abuse and neglect. Oral health professionals must prepare themselves to successfully carry out these professional responsibilities.
Glassman
Paul
P
Center for Oral Health for People With Special Needs, University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, San Francisco, California 94115-2333, USA.
Miller
Christine
C
Ingraham
Rick
R
Woolford
Emily
E
D002140:California; D003688:Deinstitutionalization; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D045809:Human Rights Abuses; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D014754:Violence; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis