Public Health and People with Disabilities: Where We Are and Where We Need To Go

People with disabilities, one of the largest minority groups in the U.S., have made significant progress in the last 50 years to promote their civil rights. Passage of legislation such as Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has increased the participation of people with disabilities in the mainstream of society. Recent public health efforts, including the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with Disabilities and Healthy People 2010, have documented the health disparities experienced by this group and set objectives to address them. Additionally, the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health [ICF] now recognizes disability as “a universal human experience” and takes in to account the social, and not just the medical, aspects of disability. All of these efforts have contributed to improved opportunity and quality of life for people living with a variety of disabilities. However, people with disabilities remain one of the most obese and sedentary populations in the U.S. and still experience significant barriers to accessing health care, health promotion and wellness services. This presentation will provide a demographic profile of people with disabilities in the U.S., explain the barriers to health and wellness experienced by this group, and describe emerging programs to promote their health.