Recommended Citation
The Role of Law and Policy in Achieving Healthy People’s Disability and Health Goals around Access to Health Care, Activities Promoting Health and Wellness, Independent Living and Participation, and Collecting Data in the United States, Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) (Mar. 12, 2020). Commissioned report supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ODPHP, and the CDC Foundation through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Keywords
Law; Health Policy; Disability; Health Goals; Promoting Health; Wellness; Independent Living; Participation; Data Collection
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Ensuring that the almost 60 million Americans with disabilities live as healthy and independent lives as possible is an important goal for our nation. This evidence-based report highlights efforts to better use law and policy to support and protect people with disabilities. Specifically, it examines how existing federal laws and policies could be leveraged by states, communities, and other sectors to reduce barriers to primary and preventive care; reduce barriers to local health and wellness programs; increase access to leisure, social, or community activities (and indirectly, to religious activities) for individuals with disabilities; and generate better disability data needed to inform and support efforts to reach these and other disability and health objectives. This report also features specific, real-world examples of legal community strategies or interventions, or Laws and Policies in Action, to illustrate how law and policy is used to make progress on each of these objectives.
By increasing our understanding of how laws and policies can advance public health, this report and related resources offer ideas for leaders to take action at the local, state, and national level by creating social and physical environments that promote health for all, health by all, and health in all communities.