Education and training for health professionals on disability inclusion: a scoping review

Persons with disabilities continue to experience profound and avoidable health inequities. Health professionals play a key role in addressing these inequities yet often lack the competencies and preparedness to provide equitable and rights-based care. To advance disability inclusion within health professions education, clarity is needed on which themes are currently represented in existing education and trainings. The objectives of this scoping review are 1) to describe how disability-related content has been incorporated into education and training for health professionals, and 2) to identify the key themes addressed in the existing literature.

A scoping review was conducted following the methodological framework by Arksey and O'Malley and the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. Literature published between January 2011 and August 2024 was searched in MEDLINE, Web of Science, Google, Google Scholar, and relevant organisational websites. Both academic and grey literature were included. Data were charted according to study characteristics, educational scope, understanding of disability, involvement of persons with disabilities, teaching format, and targeted health professionals. An inductive thematic analysis identified key themes addressed in education and training.

A total of 172 publications met the inclusion criteria. The majority originated from the Region of the Americas and the European Region and were locally or nationally implemented initiatives. Nineteen distinct themes were identified. These themes ranged from themes such as conceptual understanding of disability and the perspectives of persons with disabilities to specific themes such as discrimination and violence or costs and time management. Most training interventions were small sessions or modules rather than longitudinal curricula, and few used validated tools to evaluate learning outcomes.

Disability-related education and training for health professionals are expanding but remain fragmented and context-specific. There is an urgent need for globally aligned competency standards to guide curriculum development, for longitudinal integration of disability inclusion throughout training, and for the use of reliable evaluation frameworks. Strengthening competency- and human rights-based education is essential to prepare health professionals to deliver equitable, inclusive, and high-quality care for persons with disabilities.

Clinical trial number not applicable.