Ep. 13: Fall-Related Emergency Department Visits Among Adults With and Without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities or Cerebral Palsy, featuring Teal Benevides, PhD, and Michael McKee, MD, MPH

Dr. Teal Benevides and Dr. Michael McKee join host Dr. Sherri Eldin to discuss their research brief, “Fall-Related Emergency Department Visits Among Adults With and Without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities or Cerebral Palsy” (https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.250058).

Dr. Benevides and Dr. McKee explain their findings that adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) or cerebral palsy (CP) were more likely to visit the emergency department for a fall-related injury than adults without these conditions, and that this risk appears at earlier ages than is seen in the general population. They also discuss the barriers these populations face in accessing preventive care, and what primary care clinicians can do, from earlier fall risk screening to multidisciplinary care and medication review, to reduce falls, morbidity, and mortality in these patients.

Teal Benevides, PhD, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is a professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health Sciences in Augusta University’s School of Public Health. She has a passion for describing, understanding, and addressing disparities among individuals on the autism spectrum and those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

Dr. McKee is an Associate Professor and board-certified in family medicine with an expertise in disability health. His research focus includes health disparities for individuals with various disabilities, health information accessibility, health literacy, and telemedicine applications. 

The video interview will be available on the Annals of Family Medicine YouTube channel. As usual, the audio-only episode will also be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and the Podbean App, as well as on the Annals of Family Medicine website.