Improve Access to Care for People with Mental Retardation, Shriver Says

"No American should be denied quality health care because of mental retardation," Special Olympics President and CEO Timothy Shriver writes in a New York Times opinion piece, responding to a report issued last week by outgoing Surgeon General David Satcher that found people with mental retardation receive inadequate attention from the medical community. Shriver recounts how he was "appalled" to see data from clinics established at the 1995 Special Olympics World Games to provide athletes with dental and optometry screenings. The clinics found, for example, that half of the athletes screened had eye problems, while one-third had untreated dental decay and almost 15% "suffered from acute pain or disease, necessitating immediate referral to a hospital for cataracts, eye infections, possible glaucoma or gum infections." One eye doctor's explanation for the prevalence of problems, Shriver says, was "chilling": "Few eye doctors...want or know how to treat these patients," and any care given is "quick and dirty," as physicians often perceive that since patients with mental retardation are "not driving" and "not reading," quality treatment is unnecessary. Shriver offers support for several of Satcher's recommendations, calling for better data on the health status of people with mental retardation, a greater commitment to care for this population by public and private health programs and better training by medical and nursing schools. In addition, Shriver says, "practitioners themselves must move away from fear and discomfort in serving this population." Though Satcher's report received little media attention, "its message is clear," Shriver says, concluding, "We must provide people with metal retardation the care they need to lead healthy and productive lives" (Shriver, New York Times, 2/22).