Open access article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613231168444
Abstract
Barriers to healthcare experienced by Australian autistic adults have not been previously explored. We conducted across-sectional investigation of barriers to healthcare and associated factors from a subtle realism perspective. Perceivedbarriers to healthcare were obtained from the Barriers to Healthcare Checklist Short-Form (BHC). A total of 263 autisticand 70 non-autistic individuals completed the BHC. On average, autistic adults reported more barriers to healthcare(4.58) than non-autistic adults (0.76). Gender diversity, higher levels of generalised anxiety, greater global disability andless satisfaction with social support contributed to the experience of barriers to healthcare in autistic participants inregression modelling. Australian autistic adults face substantial barriers to healthcare. Understanding these barriersprovides an opportunity to develop approaches to improve access; such as co-designing a healthcare access roadmap forautistic adults, with co-designed policies and practices which advocate for the needs of autistic adults.
Citation: Arnold, S. R., Bruce, G., Weise, J., Mills, C. J., Trollor, J. N., & Coxon, K. (2023). Barriers to healthcare for Australian autistic adults. Autism, 28(2), 301-315. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231168444 (Original work published 2024)