Disability in public health
- Having an understanding of social determinants of health can provide a foundation and framework for understanding health disparities that are faced by people with disabilities.
- Social determinants of health can be described as social, economic and political systems that can intersect and overlap and contribute to disparities in health care and access to education, employment and of other aspects of a life.
- These determinants can be categorized as socioeconomic, psychosocial, and community and societal.
- There are many factors that determine or influence one’s health. Healthy People 2020 organizes the social determinants of health around 5 key domains: (1) Economic Stability, (2) Education, (3) Health and Health Care, (4) Neighborhood and Built Environment, and (5) Social and Community Context.
- Within each of these domains, compared to individuals without disabilities, individuals with disabilities are more likely to experience challenges, like finding a job, receiving preventive health care services, being able to visit homes in the neighborhood, using fitness facilities, using health information technology, and obtaining sufficient social-emotional support.
- They effect all aspects of life (including access to health care, employment, housing, social participation, transportation and education) and predict health outcomes for people with disabilities and other groups who may be disadvantaged.
- Compared to people without disabilities, people with disabilities are at a higher risk for poor health outcomes such as hypertension, obesity, falls-related injuries, and depression.
- Knowledge about the health status and public health needs of people with disabilities is essential for addressing these and other health disparities.
- However, most public health training programs do not include curricula on people with disabilities and methods for including them in core public health efforts.
- There is a clear need for public health efforts to reduce health disparities among people with disabilities. This may be achieved by building a stronger public health workforce skilled in ways to include people with disabilities in all public
- The term disability is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.”
- The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) describes disability as “an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions.”
- Disabilities can be physical, communicative, cognitive, or mental.
- disability is a part of the human experience and a focus of public health should be the promotion of health to people with disabilities, and the identification and reduction of health disparities of people with disabilities.
- Public health organizations and professionals should always include people with disabilities in health promotion and planning efforts to help reduce health disparities and improve the health outcomes of people with disabilities.
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