Special health care needs Flashcards
Define special health care needs
“any physical, developmental, mental, sensory, behavioral, cognitive, or emotional impairment or limiting condition that requires medical
management, health care intervention, and/or use of specialized services or programs.
The condition may be congenital, developmental, or acquired through disease, trauma, or environmental cause and may impose limitations in performing
daily self-maintenance activities or substantial limitations in major life activity.
Health care for individuals with special needs
requires specialized knowledge, as well as increased awareness and attention, adaptation, and accommodative measures beyond what are considered routine.
Stats
37.9 million Americans have a disability, with about two-thirds of these individuals having a severe disability.
The proportion of children in the U.S. with SHCN is estimated to be 18 percent, approximately 12.5 million
What does Americans with disabilities act consider dental offices?
Place of public accommodation
Failure to accommodate patients with SHCN could be considered discrimination and a violation of federal and/or state laws
Regulations require practitioners to provide physical access
to an office (e.g., wheelchair ramps, disabled-parking spaces);
Do they have issues with insurance?
Insurance plays an important role for families with children who have SHCN, but it still provides incomplete protection.Furthermore, as children with disabilities reach adult-hood, health insurance coverage may be restricted
Dental home rec
At a time agreed upon by the patient, parent, and
pediatric dentist, the patient should be transitioned to a dentist knowledgeable and comfortable with managing that patient’s specific health care needs. In cases where this is not possible or desired, the dental
home can remain with the pediatric dentist and appropriate referrals for specialized dental care should be recommended when needed
