Ableism After Critical Illness: A Qualitative Translation of Key Concepts to the Post-ICU Context.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Ableism-discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities-defines people by their disability and assumes that disabled people require fixing. We sought to characterize ableism after critical illness and to describe its relationship with care delivery.

Design

A secondary analysis of semi-structured individual interviews ( n = 42) and ten group interviews ( n = 68 participants) using modified grounded theory. We identified categories of ableism informed by existing disability studies literature and used patterns in the analysis to describe overarching themes.

Setting

A large healthcare system in western Pennsylvania.

Participants

Critical illness survivors, family members, clinicians, and administrators.

Interventions

None.

SUBMITTER: Scheunemann LP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12750450 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature