ADA Participation Action Research Consortium: Addressing Disparities in Social Determinants of Health among People with Disabilities

Twenty five years following the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities continue to experience persistent disparities in community living, community participation, and economic participation. The ADA Participation Action Research Consortium -- a partnership of ADA Centers and researchers – is using multi-level data to examine factors influencing social determinants of health, identify key disparities and strategically address them in partnership with regional and local communities. Although we have seen the growth of “community indicator” and “strategic gap analysis” initiatives in aging, public health, housing, and planning fields, these efforts have largely not been inclusive and representative of indicators of highest priority and relevance to people with disabilities. We will present two sets of interrelated findings: (1) national indicators of disparities experienced by people with disabilities in community living, community participation, and economic participation and (2) the development of related indices that capture how well a geographical area is performing among these keys areas of community participation. The indices are estimated across two units of analysis (state and city level data) and are designed such that they allow for the rank ordering of geographic entities as well as to allow the inclusion of new, unmeasured indicators that may emerge in the future. We will also discuss our knowledge translation process of working with regional steering committees to reduce disparities in social determinants of health and increase opportunities within and across communities for people with disabilities.