Shows
On Becoming a Healer"Disability is part of the human experience": So why not treat it that way?Soon after Lisa Iezzoni MD was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during her first year at Harvard Medical School, from which she graduated in 1984, faculty and administrators discouraged her from practicing medicine. And in her final year they made it impossible for her when the dean's office refused to write a recommendation letter (now called a Medical Student Performance Evaluation). This week marks the 35th anniversary of the American Disabilities Act which was signed into law on July 26th, 1990. Much has changed since but -- as Dr. Iezzoni, who went on to become an eminent scholar and...
2025-07-1556 min
DocsWithDisabilities Research and Resource RoundsCollection III: Episode 18: Physicians' Perceptions Of People With Disability And Their Health Care.Episode 18: "Physicians' Perceptions Of People With Disability And Their Health Care." Collection III: Disability in health sciences: the need for and benefits of inclusion This collection features studies and testimonials that examine the current state of disability representation among health sciences students and professionals and that demonstrate how the presence of disabled healthcare practitioners and trainees benefits both patients and clinicians/trainees. Key works in this emerging literature are gathered in this cluster that includes qualitative studies, the results of quantitative data analyses, and personal testimonials. Title of Featured Article: "Physicians' Per...
2024-09-1016 min
The Common Rewind: MassDOT's new voice for accessibility Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.
Earlier this month Governor Maura Healey appointed four new members to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation board of directors. One appointee is researcher, writer and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, who will represent the "consumer voice" for MassDOT.
Dr. Iezzoni is the first member of the disability community to serve on the department's board, despite the fact that that about one...
2024-06-1313 min
JAMA Clinical ReviewsService Animals in Health Care SettingsOver the last several years there has been a proliferation of assistance animals in health care, including service animals, therapy animals, and emotional support animals. Lisa I. Iezzoni, MD, MSc, of Harvard Medical School and the Health Policy Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, joins JAMA Senior Editor Karen E. Lasser, MD, MPH, to discuss service animals in health care settings. Related Content: Service Animals in Health Care Settings
2024-05-0915 min
Public Health Review Morning EditionPrepping for a Wave of Seniors, Listeria Response Relies on CommunicationDr. Lisa Iezzoni, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, worries the U.S. isn’t ready to accommodate the coming wave of seniors with disabilities; Jennifer Botsford, Bureau Chief for the Bureau of Environmental Health Services at the Arizona Department of Health Services, discusses a listeria outbreak discovered in early January continues to worry public health officials; an ASTHO blog article addresses the growing use of AI in public health; and ASTHO is hiring a senior accountant. The Washington Post News Article: U.S. health care isn’t ready for a surge of seniors with disabilities
2024-03-1304 min
Stories From The StageBe the ChangeNagin Karimian champions the cause of women's rights in Iran. Lisa Iezzoni and three heroic health aides share a COVID-19 patient's life. Mikhala Iversen channels the legacy of jazz and Creole into a vibrant retelling of New Orleans' history. Show you appreciate these extraordinary storytellers by making a donation in any amount at https://worldchannel.org/donate/stories/
2024-03-1129 min
Specifically for Seniors - A New DirectionLiving with a disability with Lisa Iezzoni, MDAs many of us age we develop physical problems, we have difficulty seeing, hearing and mobility. We require a walker, wheelchair or motorized device to get around. And we feel that our physicians don’t understand our problems. So we asked Dr. Lisa Iezzoni to be a guest on the podcast to help us work through the challenges we face.
Lisa I. Iezzoni, MD, MSc is Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and based at the Health Policy Research Center, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research for the past 25 years has focused on improving the life experience of pe...
2024-02-0541 min
Life as a Patient-DoctorOwn your Truth with Dr. Bisgrove, MDAbout Dr. Bisgrove: She is a a board certified family physician with a passion for health equity and how policy affects all we do in healthcare. She is deeply committed to improving the lives of the people she serves in Chicago through work in health equity and education at Rush University Medical Center and nationally as a member of the American Medical Association's (AMA) Council on Science and Public Health and as inaugural chair of the AMA’s Disability Advisory Group.
Previously, she has served in multiple leadership positions in both governance and advocacy, in...
2023-12-2244 min
BornCuriousHealthcare Disparities for People with DisabilitiesFor 25 years, Lisa I. Iezzoni’s research has focused on improving the lived experiences, healthcare quality, and health equity of adults with disability, particularly mobility disability. It’s only recently, though, that research she conducted revealed the depths of medical inequity for people with disabilities. In this conversation, our hosts ask Iezzoni about her life’s work—and the difficulties in making healthcare more accessible.This episode was recorded on November 16, 2022.Released on September 21, 2023.Episode TranscriptGuestLisa I. Iezzoni is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, based at t...
2023-09-2136 minThe Common MassDOT's new voice for accessibility Earlier this month Governor Maura Healey appointed four new members to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation board of directors. One appointee is researcher, writer and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, who will represent the "consumer voice" for MassDOT.
Dr. Iezzoni is the first member of the disability community to serve on the department's board, despite the fact that that about one in four of American adults have some kind of disability.
Dr. Iezzoni joins The Common to discuss accessibility across the state's transit systems, a well as her goals for t...
2023-07-2114 min
Hear Me NowAging in Place: The Challenge of Staying Home
Exploring the barriers to long-term care at home. We spoke with Drs. Lisa Iezzoni and
Maureen Nash about the mental, emotional, physical, and financial challenges
for people with disabilities or age-related issues who want to remain at home.
2023-04-1350 min
Hear Me Now PodcastThe challenge of staying homeA transcript is available online��We all know how the classic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" ends: Dorothy taps her heals together and reminds herself that 'there's no place like home.' And that's true for many people in need of long-term care.On today's program, two conversations about some of the challenges faced by two different groups of people wanting to stay in their homes and receive needed services there: people with a disability and the elderly. Both groups often find that living in their homes and in communities they're familiar with bene...
2023-04-1350 minHear Me NowDoctors + DisabilitiesDo physicians engage in discrimination?
On today's program, a conversation with Harvard's Lisa Iezzoni, M.D. — a researcher at the Health Policy Research Center at Mass. General Hospital. She has been studying healthcare for people with disability for a generation now and finds the attitudes of her fellow physicians alarming, even 30 years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
For more Hear Me Now stories, visit: https://providence-institute-for-human-caring.simplecast.com/
2023-02-0936 minHear Me Now PodcastDoctors and disabilitiesAn online transcript is availableMore than 60 million Americans live with a disability and that number will grow as the baby boomers continue to age. But new research throws into question whether those people are receiving the best care possible.��More than four out of five physicians say someone with a significant disability has a worse quality of life than someone without a disability. A minority of physicians ��� only 42% ��� feels strongly confident that they can provide equal quality of care to their patients with disabilities as they provide to other patients. And a large number of doctors say t...
2023-02-0936 min
Inclusion at Work by No Limits MediaInterview with Dr. Lisa I. Iezzoni, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical SchoolLisa I. Iezzoni, MD, MSc is Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and based at the Health Policy Research Center, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Iezzoni has conducted numerous studies examining the health care experiences of persons with disability. Her book Making Their Days Happen: Paid Personal Assistance Services Supporting People with Disability Living in Their Homes and Communities was just published. During the 2022-2023 academic year, she is the Sally Starling Seaver Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Dr. Iezzoni is a member of the National Academy of Medicine in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and...
2023-01-2450 min
Science FridayImproving Care For Disabled Patients, Transistor Anniversary, Whale Strikes. December 16, 2022, Part 2Medicine Is Failing Disabled Patients. Meet The Doctors Pushing For Change
“More than sixty-one million Americans have disabilities, and increasing evidence documents that they experience health care disparities.” That’s the conclusion of a series of studies, in which researchers pulled back the curtain on how doctors perceive disabled patients.
A study from last year found that more than half of surveyed physicians do not feel fully confident that they can provide disabled and non-disabled patients the same level of care. And in another paper, some doctors went as far to say that if you have a...
2022-12-1647 min
The Disability History Association PodcastPodcast Episode 37 – Personal Assistance Services: Past, Present, and Future
Lisa Iezzoni discusses her new book, Making Their Days Happen: Paid Personal Assistance Services Supporting People with Disability Living in Their Homes and Communities
Episode Image: Cover of Making Their Days Happen, by Lisa I. Iezzoni. The cover features a painting of a wide yellow bungalow, with ramps to the front door and side deck. The house has a vast front law and neat hedges and flowerbeds, and it is set amid tall green trees.
Download mp3 here.Download pdf transcript here.
About Our Guest
Lisa I. Iezzoni, MD, MSc is Professor of...
2022-11-221h 21
DocsWithDisabilities Research and Resource RoundsCollection I. Episode 2. "Disability and the Training of Health Professionals" by Tom Shakespare, Lisa I. Iezzoni, and Nora E. GroceIn Episode two we review the thought provoking commentary: "Disability and the Training of Health Professionals" by Tom Shakespare, Lisa I. Iezzoni, and Nora E. Groce (Lancet, 2009). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)62050-X. The authors argue that equitable treatment of disabled patients is an issue of human rights that can only be achieved by improving disability education in health sciences education. They write that the topic of disability must be increased across the health sciences, from educational training to infrastructural adjustments and the representation of people with disabilities among health sciences professionals and students.
2022-09-2110 min
Connecting DisabilityConnecting Disability to… the medical systemPeople with disabilities often use the medical system, but what happens when they want to become doctors? On this episode, Quinten Clarke gives us some insight into what the medical profession looks like as a medical resident who has a disability. Quinten is the vice-president and Trainee Group Lead for the Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities. Through this work, he advocates for medical learners with disabilities. He’s currently a resident physician at the University of British Columbia. He talked about how he thinks the medical system views disability, and how this can be changed. Yo...
2022-05-2530 min
Included: The Disability Equity Podcast40: Making Their Days Happen: Personal Assistant ServicesIn this episode, we welcome back Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical school and an internationally recognized health services researcher, to discuss her new book, Making Their Days Happen: Personal Assistant Services Supporting People with Disability Living in Their Homes and Communities. Learn about the research findings and personal anecdotes that motivated Dr. Iezzoni’s book about policy, interactions with the disability community, and more. Episode Transcript: Click here Episode transcripts can be found at http://disabilityhealth.jhu.edu/included/ The book is available at any bookseller https://www.am...
2022-05-0532 min
The Lancet Oncology in conversation withLisa Iezzoni on disabilities and cancer, and Jordan Marchak on mental health problems in young cancer survivorsLisa Iezzoni (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA) discusses her Series paper on disabilities and cancer and Jordan Marchak (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA) discusses her Review on surveillance of mental health problems in childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors.Read the full articles:Cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment for adults with disabilitiesRecommendations for the surveillance of mental health problems in childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivorsTell us what you thought about this episodeContinue this conversation on social!Follow us today at...
2022-03-2912 min
Listen to The Lancet OncologyIn conversation with... Lisa Iezzoni and Jordan MarchakLisa Iezzoni (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA) discusses her Series paper on disabilities and cancer and Jordan Marchak (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA) discusses her Review on surveillance of mental health problems in childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors.
2022-03-2912 minListen to The Lancet OncologyIn conversation with... Lisa Iezzoni and Jordan MarchakLisa Iezzoni (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA) discusses her Series paper on disabilities and cancer and Jordan Marchak (Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA) discusses her Review on surveillance of mental health problems in childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors.
2022-03-2912 min
Compassion & Courage: Conversations in HealthcareDr. Lisa Iezzoni: What do Doctors Think of Patients with Disabilities?Marcus is joined by Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, M.D., MSc, professor of medicine at Harvard University. Dr. Iezzoni shares her journey into medicine and about the physical challenges she experienced during medical school that ultimately led to a diagnosis of M.S. Dr. Iezzoni tells how, in the days prior to the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, her education and training in medicine were not enough to overcome the prejudices of superiors in hospitals. Marcus and Lisa discuss what the world was like for people with disabilities prior to 1990 and how many of the same...
2022-02-0845 min
Vital Voices, a Podcast of the Josiah Macy Jr. FoundationAddressing Ableism in Health Professions Learning EnvironmentsHolly Humphrey is joined by Dr Lisa Iezzoni, a professor at Harvard Medical School, for a discussion on ableism and how physicians' perceptions of disabilities may affect the care that those with disabilities receive.
This episode’s transcript is available here: https://macyfoundation.org/assets/img/podcast-transcripts/episode-8_vital-voices_iezzoni_transcript_1.pdf
More information is available here: https://macyfoundation.org/news-and-commentary/vital-voices-8
2022-01-1022 minThe Proto podcastDo Better by Disabled PatientsMORE THAN ONE IN FOUR AMERICANS live with some form of disability. This leads most of them to have an intimate, but far from untroubled, relationship to the health care system. One persistent source of frustration is a sense that clinicians may not be offering them the same care that other patients get. This hint of bias came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic, where those with disabilities were often put “in the back of the line” when it came to ventilators and other scare resources, says Lisa Iezzoni, a researcher at the Health Policy Research Cent...
2021-08-3117 min
Included: The Disability Equity PodcastHealthcare and DisparitiesDr. Lisa Iezzoni is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical school and an internationally recognized health services researcher. Dr. Iezzoni, with her decades of work on health inequities for people with disabilities, discusses disparities in healthcare and why the needle has not moved on closing these gaps for the disability community. She shares findings from her recent work examining physician perspectives of patients with disabilities and insight on how to remove bias and improve access during health care interactions. Dr. Iezzoni's work on PubMed: Click here Episode Transcript: Click here
2021-06-1636 min
Down to the StrutsPhysicians, Disabled Patients, and Healthcare AccessLast year, as emergency rooms and intensive care units were filled to capacity due to COVID-19, physicians had to make very difficult decisions about how to distribute scarce resources. Patients and their families relied on physicians to make these decisions in an unbiased, clear manner.
In this episode, we hear from Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who co-authored a recent study revealing alarming statistics about physician perceptions of patients with disabilities.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs, found that 82 percent of physicians surveyed believed that patients with disabilities have a lower...
2021-04-1344 min
The AJN PodcastInterview with Suzanne Smeltzer, author of the April research article, “Interactions of People with Disabilities and Nursing Staff” and with Lisa Iezzoni and Michael Ogg, authors of “Patient’s Perspective: Hard Lessons from a Long Hospital Stay”An estimated 62 million adult Americans lived with some type of disability in 2001-2005…”, explains researcher Suzanne Smeltzer in her introduction. And many of these people end up in hospitals and often feel unsafe. AJN’s editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy talks with author Smeltzer about her research and is joined by the authors (both of whom have disabilities from multiple sclerosis) of a companion piece who discuss their experiences.
2012-03-2926 min