Screening for All
By Jill Hinton, PhD, NCSS Clinical Director
October 9 is National Depression Screening Day, observed to raise awareness and reduce stigma around depression. A large part of this effort is ensuring people have access to depression screenings – offered free by many organizations on this day and otherwise offered in primary care, psychiatric, and emergency settings.
At the National Center for START Services®, we believe people with IDD should have access to all types of screenings routinely used in healthcare.
Expanding Beyond Depression Screening
During the past year, I was honored to serve as a subject matter expert for Screening For All, an initiative aimed at improving access to healthcare screenings for people with IDD. Screening For All is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) to address the significant barriers people with disabilities face in accessing preventive health screenings.
This initiative led to the development of a resource for healthcare providers, systems, and patients to improve access to 29 preventive health screenings for people with disabilities. The publication includes data on the health disparities experienced by people with IDD, evidence-based modifications that improve accessibility, and a variety of practical resources for both healthcare providers and patients. It also includes a detailed implementation plan to guide healthcare practices through the steps of becoming more accessible.
As a START network, we remain committed to the 3 A's as a way of improving the lives of people with IDD. Sharing this resource with our communities is one way to help carry that commitment forward
Last year on this day, we emphasized the 3 A's of START as they relate to depression screenings.
- Access – Ensure people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are included in screening efforts. Common depression screening tools like the PHQ-9 can be adapted for use with people with IDD.
- Appropriateness – Use specialized tools, such as the Glasgow Depression Scale (GDS), created for people with learning differences. Informant tools are also available, including the Glasgow Depression Scale – Caregiver Supplement (CGDS) and the Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Scale (ADAMS).
- Accountability – Share resources, communicate across systems, and apply best practices to improve care. Monitor for changes in a person's presentation and advocate to screen for mental health symptoms, including depression. Follow up on screenings and advocate for access to mental health services and resources.
This framework reminds us that people with IDD should have access to all types of screenings routinely used in healthcare – mental health screenings as well as physical health screenings. The 3 A's should be applied to a broad array of screenings, not depression screening alone.
https://mcd.org/screening-for-all/resources/docs/acknowledge-executive-summary-s4a.pdf
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