Winning Project
Patients with Disabilities as Teachers (P-DAT) Program
An educational project designed to strengthen disability awareness, respectful communication, and inclusive care among health care professionals.
Project Goals
The project was designed to enhance health care providers' knowledge of disability etiquette and support more inclusive, respectful care for people with disabilities.
Disability Etiquette & Resources
Promote recognition of appropriate disability etiquette, including Person First Language, while increasing familiarity with community resources for people with disabilities.
Identify Barriers & Solutions
Encourage health professionals to identify personal barriers and barriers within their practices that affect patients with disabilities, and develop solutions for improvement.
About the P-DAT Educational Session
The original P-DAT program was a three-hour educational session created by the Department of Family Medicine at Lehigh Valley Health Network to teach communication etiquette and disability sensitivity. The session incorporated three components:
- A person with a disability serves as the educator. The educator discusses daily routines and health care experiences, giving learners an opportunity to engage directly with the lived experience of disability.
- Learners view the film Patient Voices. The approximately 30-minute film portrays simulated encounters with eight individuals with different disabilities and demonstrates respectful, patient-centered interactions.
- The educator facilitates discussion. Learners and the P-DAT educator discuss the film and reinforce lessons related to communication, etiquette, sensitivity, and patient-centered care.
The Student Team's Adaptation
The scholarship recipients proposed adapting the original P-DAT program into a one-hour educational session for health care professionals, with focused discussion on the health care experiences of patients with disabilities.
