Commit to Inclusion
A campaign that supports the implementation of Guidelines and Programming to empower people with disability to lead health, active lifestyles.
Founding Partners
- National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition
- American Association on Health and Disability
- Center on Disability at The Public Health Institute
Commit to Inclusion supports the implementation of the Guidelines for Disability Inclusion to assist in the updating of community health program and policies to be inclusive of the needs of people with disability.
Commit to Inclusion supports the establishment of programming like I Can Do it, You Can Do It! (ICDI) to help facilitate access and opportunities for children and adults with disability to be healthy and active.
AAHD is a founding partner along with the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)
How Were the Guidelines Developed and Approved?
The literature was reviewed that was most pertinent to the development of guidelines and criteria for inclusion of people with disabilities (The Agree Next Steps Consortium, 2009; DRRPII Adaptation: National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; Drum, Peterson, Culley, Krahn, Heller, Kimpton, McCubbin, Rimmer, Seekins, Susuki &, White, 2009; Kraus, Richards, Hong &Ilog, 2012). The literature review also included a wide range of materials related to national strategies in physical activity, nutrition, and obesity, the most relevant of which are included in the Reference section (CDC Healthy Communities Program, 2011; CDC Community Prevention Guide, 2013; Khan, Sobush, Keener, Goodman, Lowry, Kakietek, & Zaro, 2009). In addition, many examples of current state and local policies and programs in the areas of physical activity, nutrition, and obesity so that we could identify issues and concerns related to disability inclusion. On the basis of the literature review, a set of draft proposed guidelines and implementation steps were then reviewed, refined, and approved by the Expert Panel Review, recommendations, and approval by the expert panel included the following steps:
- Panel members reviewed the proposed guidelines and completed an online survey about the importance of the guidelines and usefulness of implementation steps. The panel provided detailed quantitative and qualitative feedback on the guidelines, as well as guidance about the implementation steps which will be especially valuable in development of a tool kit, scheduled for the second year of the project.
- We refined the guidelines based on survey results, and sent the revised guidelines and criteria for their evaluation to the panel for review.
- In meetings on April 1 and 3, 2013, the panel members reviewed and approved the criteria for evaluating the guidelines. Their discussions of the guidelines led to additional refinement.
- The panel members unanimously approved the Guidelines for Disability Inclusion.
References
The Agree Next Steps Consortium (2009). Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (Agree II). http://www.agreetrust.org/.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Healthy Communities Program (2011). Strive to implement high-impact policies. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthycommunitiesprogram/policy/index.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guide to Community Preventive Services (2013). Available at: http://www.thecommunityguide.org/index.html
DRRPII Adaptation: National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Grant #H133A120102 (PI, J. Rimmer), Obesity and Disability Rehabilitation Research Project
Drum CE, Peterson JJ, Culley C, Krahn G, Heller T, Kimpton T, McCubbin T, Rimmer J, Seekins T, Susuki R, White GW. (2009). Guidelines and criteria for the implementation of community-based health promotion programs for individuals with disabilities. American Journal of Health Promotion, 24(2): 93-101.
Khan LK, Sobush K, Keener D, Goodman K, Lowry A, Kakietek J, Zaro S. (2009). Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in the United States. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5807a1.htm?awesm=r3X&s_cid=rr5807a1_x&utm_campaign=andy&utm_medium=awe.sm-copypaste&utm_source=direct-awe.sm&utm_content=bookmarklet-copypaste
Kraus LE, Richards TA, Hong L, Ilog L. (2012). Report on the applicability of the Guide to Community Prevention Services to people with disabilities. Center on Disability at the Public Health Institute.
9 Guidelines for Disability Inclusion
The Guidelines for Disability Inclusion and its resources can be used by any entity including government, private, and non-profit organizations to ensure new and existing program initiatives and policies in the areas of physical activity, nutrition, and obesity are appropriate and accessible for people with disability.
- OBJECTIVES INCLUDE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY
Program objectives should explicitly and unambiguously state that the target population includes people with a range of different disabilities (cognitive, intellectual and other developmental disabilities, mobility, visual, hearing, and mental health disabilities). - INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY IN DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION & EVALUATION
Program development, implementation, and evaluation should include input from people with a range of different disabilities and their representatives (e.g., community members or other experts with disabilities, potential participants with disabilities and their family members, personal assistants, and caregivers). - PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY
Programs should be accessible to people with disabilities and other users, socially, behaviorally, programmatically, in communication, and in the physical environment. - ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PARTICIPANTS WITH DISABILITY
Programs should address individual needs of participants with disabilities through accommodations that are specifically tailored to those needs. - OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY
Programs should use a variety of accessible methods to outreach and promote the program(s) to people with disabilities. - COST CONSIDERATIONS AND FEASIBILITY
Programs should address potential resource implications of inclusion (including staffing, training, equipment, and other resources needed to promote inclusion). - AFFORDABILITY
Programs should be affordable to people with disabilities and their families, personal assistants, and caregivers. - PROCESS EVALUATION
Programs should implement process evaluation (with transparent monitoring, accountability and quality assurance) that includes feedback from people with disabilities and family members, personal assistants, caregivers or other representatives, and a process for making changes based on feedback. - OUTCOMES EVALUATION
Programs should collect outcomes data, using multiple disability-appropriate measures.