Press Release
Rockville, MD – The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) applauds today’s anticipated announcement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) designating people with disabilities as a health disparities population.
Under the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) this designation will create programs and funding opportunities to support improving the health of people with disabilities, especially among the most marginalized communities. This will expand opportunities for researchers hoping to study health disparities across the disability community. It will also improve the inclusion of people with disabilities as researchers and participants in health disparities research.
As the designation was announced, NIH has concurrently released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support research on the health and health care disparities experienced by people living with disabilities. The grant will prioritize research on the intersecting impacts of disability, race and ethnicity and socioeconomic status on health.
In 2022, Members of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) Working Group on Diversity provided a report to NIH from a disability-focused subgroup. Their report explored health disparities among disability populations, and the gaps in disability data that research could fill. AAHD recognizes the years of advocacy that many organizations, including AAHD, have been engaged in to bring about this decision.
“Disability advocates have pushed for the inclusion of people with disabilities as a health disparity population for years. With more targeted research, we’ll be better able to identify and remove barriers to health access and improve outcomes for millions of people.” said Karl Cooper, Executive Director of AAHD.
This news marks a rejection of recent NIH advisory council recommendations that would not have updated the health disparities definition to include disability.
This announcement comes on the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – the first piece of civil rights legislation which protected people with disabilities from discrimination in federal employment and paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The HHS Office for Civil Rights is now working to strengthen the implementation of the Rehab Act with a proposed rule change “so that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to participate in or benefit from health care programs and activities that is equal to the opportunity afforded others.”
Read the full NIH Press Release here: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-designates-people-disabilities-population-health-disparities
About the American Association on Health and Disability: AAHD is dedicated to ensuring health equity for children and adults with disabilities through policy, research, education, and dissemination at the federal, state and community level. AAHD strives to advance health promotion and wellness initiatives for people with disabilities. AAHD’s goals are to reduce health disparities between people with disabilities and the general population, and to support full community inclusion and accessibility.