Getting Started
Learn about accessible preventive screenings and plan the changes to make them happen at your practice.
Free CME Webinar (video)
A recorded, CME-accredited webinar on making preventive screenings inclusive and accommodating for people with disabilities — a good primer before the resources below.
Watch for CME credit (MCD Learn) Watch on YouTubeImplementation Plan
A step-by-step plan for making accessibility improvements across your practice.
View the Implementation Plan (PDF)Summary of Adjustments and Adaptations
An at-a-glance summary of the accommodations and adaptations that support accessible screenings.
Go to Summary of Adjustments and Adaptations (PDF)~61 million
U.S. adults live with a disability. Every preventive screening should work for them.
(Source: CDC, Disability Impacts All of Us)
Screening Resources
What you’ll find for each screening
We have developed three types of resources for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and osteoporosis screenings to help you support people with disabilities in accessing these screenings. We also have resources on questionnaire screenings and colorectal cancer screening. Here are the resources you’ll find for each screening.
At a glance
Quick Reference Guides
Two-page summaries of the most critical considerations detailed in the Practice Considerations. Can be used at the point of care and as a brief primer.
In depth
Practice Considerations
Detailed overviews of evidence and best practices to support disabled patients’ access to screenings.
For patients
Screening Guides
Plain-language booklets to share with patients, explaining what to expect in the screening process, accommodations they can request, and questions they can ask to be fully prepared.
Breast Cancer Screening
Mammography equipment and positioning are usually built for patients who can stand and hold still, leaving many people with mobility, sensory, or intellectual and developmental disabilities unable to complete the screening. These resources give you accommodations and alternative approaches so a breast cancer screening actually works for your patient.
At a glance: Breast Cancer Quick Reference Guide (PDF)
In depth: Breast Cancer Screening Practice Considerations for Patients with Disabilities
For patients: Breast Cancer Screening Guide for Patients (PDF)
Cervical Cancer Screening
Pelvic positioning, muscle spasticity, past trauma, and the mistaken assumption that patients with disabilities don’t need screening all delay cervical cancer screening. These resources offer positioning accommodations and communication strategies to complete a Pap test respectfully and accurately.
At a glance: Cervical Cancer Quick Reference Guide (PDF)
In depth: Cervical Cancer Screening Practice Considerations for Patients with Disabilities
For patients: Cervical Cancer Screening Guide for Patients (PDF)
Osteoporosis Screening
Patients with disabilities often carry higher osteoporosis risk, yet DXA scanners that require lying flat and still, difficult transfers, and staff unsure how to adapt can block an accurate bone-density screening. These resources cover positioning accommodations, alternatives, and the risk factors specific to your patient.
At a glance: Osteoporosis Reference Guide (PDF)
In depth: Osteoporosis Screening Practice Considerations for Patients with Disabilities
For patients: Osteoporosis Screening Guide for Patients (PDF)
Colorectal Cancer Screening
Bowel prep, transfers and positioning for a colonoscopy, and the dexterity and vision demands of at-home stool tests can each keep patients with disabilities from colorectal cancer screening. We currently offer a patient guide for this screening; if practitioner resources would help your work, request them below.
For patients: Colorectal Cancer Screening Guide for Patients (PDF)
At this time, we do not have practice considerations or a quick reference guide for colorectal cancer screening. If you would like us to build these resources next, please let us know by emailing us at screeningforall@mcd.org.
Questionnaire screenings
Questionnaires for depression, anxiety, substance use, and intimate partner violence can unintentionally reinforce barriers for disabled patients that compromise both accuracy and quality of care. These resources give practical, trauma-informed strategies for making sure questionnaires are helping, rather than harming, patients.
In depth: Guidelines for Accessible Questionnaire Screenings
For patients: Questionnaire Screenings: A Guide for Patients
Who it’s for: Clinical staff who administer the questionnaires (e.g., medical assistants and nurses), the same staff as the other clinical resources, not office managers or reception.
Office Staff Resources
Practical tools to help you start implementing accessibility changes at your practice.
View Curated Learning Resources
These resources are free to use and adapt under a Creative Commons license. See Using These Resources and Image and Icon Credits.
This program is supported by the U.S. CDC of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $974,773.00 with 100% funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.