Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities said, Hawaii’s plan is very similar to other states and largely uses boilerplate language, but is unusual in how it explicitly describes age and life cycle considerations as determinants.  “I see a problem with having an explicit age cut off,” he said. “There’s really very little to differentiate a 64-year-old from a 65-year-old.”  Read article>>

"The DEC Research workgroup conducted this study during the COVID-19 pandemic—making the work considerably more challenging,” said CBH faculty Dr. Megan Morris. “However, it also created an important opportunity to shine a bright light on the gaps in health care accessibility for people with disabilities." 

Key Findings:  Persons with disabilities experience significant disparities in the receipt of equitable health care. In order to address these disparities, rigorously designed, patient-centered outcomes research is needed. A diverse group of stakeholders identified 14 research priorities to advance research in this area. The top priorities include developing: 1) methods to collect patients’ disability status in the health care setting; 2) training for staff and providers on how to deliver accessible, appropriate, and culturally competent health care to PWD; and 3) methods for providing timely disability accommodations during all health care interactions.  Read paper>>