Disability Awareness

People with disabilities are around us more often than we are aware of. These do not necessarily require a wheelchair, or involve physical characteristics. Many of us have invisible disabilities, generally unseen by others.

When you see someone in a wheelchair, be aware that there are different circumstances and needs for a wheelchair. Some individuals depend on walking sticks, wheelchairs, canes, and walkers/rollators as tools for daily movement, while some may only need them for chronic illness and episodic days of days of fatigue, pain, dizziness, etc.

Disability is all around us. According to the CDC, approximately 1 in 4 adults has a disability.

• 11.1 percent of U.S. adults have a mobility disability with serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
• 10.9 percent of U.S. adults have a cognition disability with serious difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions.
• 6.4 percent of U.S. adults have an independent living disability with difficulty doing errands alone.
• 5.7 percent of U.S. adults are deaf or have serious difficulty hearing.
• 4.9 percent of U.S. adults have a vision disability with blindness or serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses.
• 3.0 percent of U.S. adults have a self-care disability with difficulty dressing or bathing.

The CDC website identifies some action steps to improve public health for disabled communities with activities such as collaborating with other organizations for:

• Building inclusive health programs
• Improving access to health care
• Promoting healthy living
• Monitoring public health data
• Researching and reducing health disparities

View infographic and references at: www.cdc.gov/disabilities/

Advocacy and Disability Policy

As seen on the APHA website:

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, signed into law in 1973, was the first federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities from discrimination. However, it wasn’t until 1977 that regulations were published and signed, spurred by the activism in 1977 of 504 sit-ins, peaceful demonstrations which underscored the demand for federal regulations to enforce Section 504.

Reference

PHPN