Too little is known about the health-related experiences of Americans with disabilities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a first-of-its-kind report this week.
Looking at health disparities among different demographic groups, the report assessed how factors such as income, race and gender impact the likelihood that a person will be healthy or sick. The CDC found, for example, that lower income individuals are more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions and the odds of suicide are greater among men than women.
Among people with disabilities, the report indicates that having health insurance is more common as is living in inadequate housing. Meanwhile, individuals in this group are also more likely to have conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
However, federal officials said they weren’t able to obtain a complete picture of the health experiences of people with disabilities as compared to others simply because too little information exists. Of the 22 topics studied, disability data was available for just eight.
There are efforts to change that, with a series of interagency working groups looking to expand data collection.
“Better information about the health status of different groups is essential,” said Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC, who indicated that improved analysis and reporting will lead to “health equity in this country.”
How typical for the CDC, known to me as an elitists group, know it all pompous, arrogant, pontificating doctors. Maybe opening their eyes would allow them to see what goes on in the real world.
CDC stands for: “Certainly Don’t Care,” – when it comes to the disability community – no matter what Dr. Frieden says.
How can the disability community get involved in spreading the word and making sure more information is available about people with disabilities?
All it says in this article is that “there are efforts to change that, with a series of interagency working groups looking to expand data collection.” Which groups so that the rest of the disability community can pitch in?
Stars — part of getting the disability community involved is increasing the knowledge about what health care rights they already have under statutory federal law. As long as states can continue getting away with telling parents their kids are only allowed two feeding tubes a year, we’re too busy fighting the daily conditions of life to educate others about it.