IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p11886-d920071.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Addressing Disability Inequities: Let’s Stop Admiring the Problem and Do Something about It

Author

Listed:
  • James H. Rimmer

    (School of Health Professions, Lakeshore Foundation Research Collaborative, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35206, USA)

Abstract

The healthcare system and public health community are often underprepared to support the needs of people with disabilities and to include them equitably in wellness programs (e.g., exercise, leisure, nutrition, stress management) offered to the general community. Consequently, the vast majority of people with disabilities are unable to make the transition from “patient” to “participant,” which contributes to many of the health disparities reported in this population. People with disabilities have a disproportionately higher rate of acquiring secondary conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular comorbidity, pain, fatigue, depression, deconditioning, and type 2 diabetes, often resulting from poor access to home and community-based health promotion/wellness programs that include physical activity, nutrition, stress reduction, and sleep hygiene, among others. Achieving health equity in people with disabilities requires a multi-stage approach that includes person-centered referral to wellness programs, empowering people with disabilities to become self-managers of their own health and ensuring that community-based programs and services are inclusive. A three-stage model for addressing health and wellness needs across the home and community settings is described, which is currently being used in a large federally funded center in the US with potential generalizability across the world.

Suggested Citation

  • James H. Rimmer, 2022. "Addressing Disability Inequities: Let’s Stop Admiring the Problem and Do Something about It," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-8, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:11886-:d:920071
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/11886/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/11886/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Krahn, G.L. & Walker, D.K. & Correa-De-Araujo, R., 2015. "Persons with disabilities as an unrecognized health disparity population," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 198-206.
    2. Kinne, S. & Patrick, D.L. & Doyle, D.L., 2004. "Prevalence of Secondary Conditions among People with Disabilities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(3), pages 443-445.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jong Eun Park & So Young Kim & Se Hee Kim & Eun Ju Jeoung & Jong Hyock Park, 2020. "Household Food Insecurity: Comparison between Families with and without Members with Disabilities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Park, Keunhyun & Chamberlain, Brent & Song, Ziqi & Nasr Esfahani, Hossein & Sheen, Jeff & Larsen, Teresa & Long Novack, Valerie & Licon, Carlos & Christensen, Keith, 2022. "A double jeopardy: COVID-19 impacts on the travel behavior and community living of people with disabilities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 24-35.
    3. Herberholz, Chantal & Phuntsho, Sonam, 2021. "Medical, transportation and spiritual out-of-pocket health expenditure on outpatient and inpatient visits in Bhutan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    4. Hye Jin Nam & Ju Young Yoon, 2021. "Linking Health Literacy to Self-Care in Hypertensive Patients with Physical Disabilities: A Path Analysis Using a Multi-Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, March.
    5. Han-Nu-Ri Kang & Kang-Sook Lee & JuYeon Koh & YuJin Park & HyunKyung Shin, 2021. "The Factors Associated with Attempted Smoking Cessation and Successful Four-Week Smoking Abstinence According to the Types of Disability in Seoul, Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Nkiruka C. Atuegwu & Mark D. Litt & Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin & Reinhard C. Laubenbacher & Mario F. Perez & Eric M. Mortensen, 2021. "E-Cigarette Use in Young Adult Never Cigarette Smokers with Disabilities: Results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-13, May.
    7. Marjolein Thijssen & Maud J. L. Graff & Monique A. S. Lexis & Maria W. G. Nijhuis-van der Sanden & Kate Radford & Pip A. Logan & Ramon Daniels & Wietske Kuijer-Siebelink, 2023. "Collaboration for Developing and Sustaining Community Dementia-Friendly Initiatives: A Realist Evaluation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-24, February.
    8. Nicola Fortune & Rosamond H. Madden & Shane Clifton, 2021. "Health and Access to Health Services for People with Disability in Australia: Data and Data Gaps," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-15, November.
    9. Pearse McCusker & Lauren Gillespie & Gavin Davidson & Sarah Vicary & Kevin Stone, 2023. "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Social Work: Evidence for Impact?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(20), pages 1-18, October.
    10. Marja Eliisa Holm & Päivi Sainio & Jaana Suvisaari & Katri Sääksjärvi & Tuija Jääskeläinen & Suvi Parikka & Seppo Koskinen, 2022. "Differences in Unfavorable Lifestyle Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic between People with and without Disabilities in Finland: Psychological Distress as a Mediator," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-15, June.
    11. Michael Jones & John Morris & Frank Deruyter, 2018. "Mobile Healthcare and People with Disabilities: Current State and Future Needs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-13, March.
    12. Rosemary B. Hughes & Susan Robinson-Whelen & Carly Knudson, 2022. "Cancer Disparities Experienced by People with Disabilities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-9, July.
    13. Sandie Ha & Valerie Martinez, 2021. "Associations between Disability and Infertility among U.S. Reproductive-Aged Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-12, March.
    14. Amilon, Anna & Hansen, Kasper M. & Kjær, Agnete Aslaug & Steffensen, Tinne, 2021. "Estimating disability prevalence and disability-related inequalities: Does the choice of measure matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    15. Robin G. Lanzi & Riddhi A. Modi & James Rimmer, 2023. "A Disability-Inclusive Healthcare-to-Well-Being Translational Science Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Dixon-Ibarra, Alicia & Nery-Hurwit, Mara & Driver, Simon & MacDonald, Megan, 2017. "Using health promotion guidelines for persons with disabilities to develop and evaluate a physical activity program for individuals with multiple sclerosis: A feasibility study," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 150-159.
    17. Erin Radcliffe & Ben Lippincott & Raeda Anderson & Mike Jones, 2021. "A Pilot Evaluation of mHealth App Accessibility for Three Top-Rated Weight Management Apps by People with Disabilities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-14, April.
    18. Mike Jones & Frank DeRuyter & John Morris, 2020. "The Digital Health Revolution and People with Disabilities: Perspective from the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-10, January.
    19. Naomi Hlongwane & Lieketseng Ned & Emma McKinney & Vic McKinney & Leslie Swartz, 2022. "Experiences of Organisations of (or That Serve) Persons with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic and National Lockdown Period in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-16, October.
    20. Abigail Mulcahy & Carl G. Streed & Anna Marie Wallisch & Katie Batza & Noelle Kurth & Jean P. Hall & Darcy Jones McMaughan, 2022. "Gender Identity, Disability, and Unmet Healthcare Needs among Disabled People Living in the Community in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-19, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:11886-:d:920071. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.