Attitudes towards people with physical or intellectual disabilities among nursing, social work and medical students.

Aims and objectivesTo examine and compare undergraduate healthcare students' attitudes towards people with physical or intellectual disabilities in Greece. BackgroundThe experience that people with disabilities have with health care is a complex interaction between their medical condition and the social and physical environment. Attitudes of the nursing and healthcare staff affect the quality of care and people's adaptation to their disability, self-image and rehabilitation outcomes. DesignDescriptive cross-sectional survey. MethodsNursing, Social Work and Medicine students (N=1007, 79.4% female) attending three universities (Athens, Crete) completed during 2014-2016 two standardised scales regarding physical (ATDP-B) and intellectual disability (CLAS-ID). Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. ResultsAttitudes towards people with physical disabilities in Greece (ATDP-B scores) were poor with scores just above the mid-point. Medical studies and higher knowledge and work with individuals with physical disabilities signified marginally more positive attitudes. Gender and age displayed no associations with attitudes. Regarding intellectual disability (CLAS-ID scores), nursing students had slightly less positive attitudes in Similarity but more positive attitudes in Sheltering subscales. Previous work and contact was related to more favourable and higher age to less favourable Similarity and Sheltering attitudes. Males had higher Exclusion scores. Those who knew people with intellectual disabilities had less favourable Empowerment attitudes. Knowledge was related to more positive attitudes in all four CLAS-ID subscales. ConclusionsGreek health and social care students showed poor attitudes towards people with physical and intellectual disability. Relevance to clinical practiceWhen holding unfavourable attitudes, healthcare professionals become less involved with the people they care for and they do not provide nursing care to the best of their abilities. Undergraduate and continuing education, along with workplace enhancements, should aim to provide high-quality health care to people with disabilities.