Project Description:
Because the presence of disability is often viewed as synonymous with poor health, or lack of it, persons with a disability, who constitute as much as 20 percent of our nation's population, have not been a primary focus of chronic disease prevention and health promotion. Recent studies, however, have suggested that persons with a disability may be more susceptible to developing chronic conditions and diseases than those without a disability. For example, physical inactivity, obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol, precursors of chronic diseases, are more prevalent among persons with disability than those without. Persons with arthritis, the leading cause of disability in the nation, also are at greater risk of acquiring other chronic conditions or diseases due to joint pain, physical inactivity, and overweight. Further, physical economic and social barriers surrounding persons with a disability, may be contributing to widen the health disparity between persons with and without disability. For example, lack of transportation and inaccessible medical facilities may prohibit persons with a disability from accessing preventive health services.
In recognizing the importance of improving health of this large and potentially underserved segment of our population, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000) included a new chapter, ?Disability and Secondary Conditions? in its Healthy People 2010, a national 10-year plan to improve health of all Americans. A more recent ?Surgeon General?s Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with Disabilities (2005)? encourages community-based collaboration between health care providers, health educators, policy makers, persons with a disability and their family members in order to minimize the health disparity that may exist between persons with and without a disability.
In Illinois, the Illinois Department of Public Health?s Office of Health Promotion and UIC?s Department of Disability and Human Development launched a new project, the Illinois Disability and Health Project, with a goal of promoting the health, well-being and quality of life of Illinois? citizens with a disability. During the project period, staff members from the Department of Public Health and UIC will work together in conducting the following project activities in order to reach this overarching goal.
1.Development and maintain a statewide Chronic Disease Prevention and Control/Disability Outreach Partnership that will be consisted of various stakeholders such as individuals with a disability, disability advocates, health service providers, state and local health agencies, and chronic disease-based advocacy groups in the State.
2.Conduct secondary analysis and interpretation of existing survey data sets on chronic disease and disability such as Illinois Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System, and Illinois County Behavior Risk Factor Survey, and other appropriate state and national data sets.
3.Develop the ?Illinois Disability and Arthritis Data Report? focusing on the correlation of chronic diseases/health conditions and disability. This report will be used as a model for future chronic disease and disability data reports.
4.Develop the Illinois Chronic Disease Prevention and Control/Disability State Plan that will guide the future efforts of disease prevention and health promotion for citizens with a disability in the State.
5.Conduct focus group interviews in selected rural and urban settings among persons with mobility disabilities to identify health promotion strategies to reduce chronic disease as a secondary health condition; and prepare a report of findings.
6.Raise public and professional awareness regarding reducing chronic disease as a secondary health condition among persons with disabilities.
Core Function(s):
Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
