Treating Disabled Women: A Challenge for Alabama, Southeast

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A recent National Public Radio story drew attention to the thousands of disabled women in the United States who experience health care deficiencies due to lack of proper equipment, inaccessible facilities and untrained staff. The insufficiency of medical resources for disabled women is especially apparent in the Southeast where the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Spain Rehabilitation Center serves as one of only a few facilities in the region, and the only one in Alabama, to offer specialized gynecological care to disabled women.

January 31, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A recent National Public Radio story drew attention to the thousands of disabled women in the United States who experience health care deficiencies due to lack of proper equipment, inaccessible facilities and untrained staff. The insufficiency of medical resources for disabled women is especially apparent in the Southeast where the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Spain Rehabilitation Center serves as one of only a few facilities in the region, and the only one in Alabama, to offer specialized gynecological care to disabled women.

The UAB Reproductive Health Clinic for Women with Disabilities at Spain Rehabilitation Center, started by Amie Jackson, M.D., professor and chair of the UAB Department Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, draws patients for clinical examinations all the way from Florida, Virginia and Arkansas. Opened in 1988, the UAB Reproductive Health Clinic for Women was the first such facility in the country.

“Disabled women require care and knowledge from clinicians who have an understanding of their reproductive health and disability,” Jackson said. “At UAB, we see about 600 patients with spinal cord injuries, for example. Our physicians understand the unique changes these women may experience physically, as well as physiologically. We are prepared to meet the physical needs with customized equipment, such as a device to facilitate the transfer from wheel chair to an accommodating exam table.”

In addition to the Reproductive Health Clinic, Jackson teamed with staff at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. to open a “transition clinic” geared toward young women with spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the nervous system. Patients with spina bifida, thanks to recent medical advancements, have a much longer life span than they used to. According to Jackson, they are entering adulthood with a need to understand more about their reproductive system. This clinic not only allows them to be comfortable with gynecological exams, it gives them much needed education and information about their unique changes.