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3331.0
Disability in Public Health: Why it’s Important and What to Do
Disability in Public Health: Why it’s Important and What to Do
Monday, November 4, 2013: 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Oral
"Disability" is an emerging dimension within public health, yet for many in public health, there is relatively little understanding of its meaning or importance. One in six adults experiences a disability in the U.S., with similar estimates globally. It is estimated that $400 billion are spent annually in the U.S.A. on disability related health care costs, 70% of which are public expenditures. Despite these expenditures, this is a group that has poorer health and higher rates of unmet health care, more unhealthy behaviors and less access to health promotion programs.
Public health has a critical role to play in preventing or ameliorating this poor health for this target population. A panel of experts will address five key areas regarding disability in public health: Who are people with disability and how is disability defined?; Disability Experiences around the Globe; Disability and Race/Ethnicity; Veterans and Disabilities; and The Future for Disability and Public Health. Each panelist will present scientific data, a summary of the key issues, and what public health can do address the issues in these areas.
Session Objectives: a) Explain what disability is and who lives with disabilities in the USA and globally
b) Demonstrate health equity issues associated with living with disability as a veteran, person of color, or other subsets of the general population having unique person-environmental challenges
c) Formulate approaches that can be used by participants to include disabilities in planning for science, policy and practices to promote full participation of people with disabilities.
Organizer:
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.
Organized by: APHA-Science Board
See more of: APHA-Science Board