The Washington State Disability and Health program is a partnership
between the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), the
Center for
Disability Policy and Research (CDPR) of the University of Washington,
and four Washington communities. The program interventions are aimed at
changing state and local environments to increase access and
participation by individuals with disabilities, particularly individuals
with mobility-related limitations, in order to prevent secondary
conditions and eliminate health disparities for individuals with
disabilities. This is based on Objective 6.12 of Healthy People 2010,
“reduce the proportion of people with disabilities reporting
environmental barriers to participation in home, school, work, or
community activities”.
The goals include:
-
Collect
and disseminate data about disability in Washington State, in order to
support policy and increase attention to disability issues by public
health and other institutions.
-
This
is done by:
Estimating
current prevalence of disability and secondary disabling conditions,
especially those associated with mobility-related impairments, and
-
Sharing data
reports with DOH programs, other agencies, disability groups, and
the public, by print and electronic means.
-
Make and influence policy in the DOH
and other institutions to promote the well-being and participation of
individuals with disabilities.
This is done by:
1. Advocating for inclusion of people with
disabilities in DOH programs, and
2. Implementing the Washington State
Plan for Disability and Health to direct policy and practice in the
DOH and with its
partners.
-
Develop,
implement and evaluate interventions to prevent health disparities for
individuals with disabilities by increasing the community access and
participation of individuals with disabilities in four Washington
state communities.
- This is done by involving people with
disabilities, service providers and community partners in planning
interventions that improve community accessibility by reducing
environmental and social barriers, assure
program access, and raise community awareness of disability.
The current
Disability and Health program
operates at the state level and within four local communities. At
the state level, emphasis is placed on assessment and policy development
activities. Through these activities, awareness of disability
issues and health promotion for people with disabilities throughout the
state is achieved.
A Washington State
Plan for Disability and Health has been developed and includes
additional activities such as advocacy within DOH, participating in
state level interagency committees, disseminating disability data, and
building partnerships with other organizations concerned about
disability issues. The CDPR, located at the University of Washington,
contributes to state-level activities by collecting and analyzing
population disability data, developing measures of secondary conditions,
and supporting program evaluation.
The program interventions take place
at the local level through community mobilization around disability
issues and access. In each partner community, the techniques of
community organization guide the creation of a local advisory board of
people with disabilities as well as service providers. The boards
develop and implement interventions to achieve environments that
increase access and participation by individuals with disabilities.
The state-local division of labor reflects the
decentralized structure of public health in Washington State, in which
local health jurisdictions choose their own prevention priorities, and
is consistent with a social model of disability that recognizes the
impact of environment on disadvantage. Program interventions change the
community rather than focus on changing behaviors or practices of
individuals with disabilities. Environmental
interventions improve access for everyone in a community, not only those
who may be motivated to read a pamphlet or participate in a behavior
change program. The partner communities are Spokane, Jefferson, Grays
Harbor and Kitsap counties.
