Welcome to ODH Home Page!

Our Mission

The mission of the Office of Disability and Health (ODH) is to promote the health of people with disabilities, assess the prevalence of disability in New Mexico, help reduce the impact of other conditions associated with disability, and to reduce health disparities among people living with a disability. 

ODH supports health promotion programs, prevention programs and many other activities designed to improve the quality of life for people with disability.  The major part of its funding comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

About ODH

The Office of Disability and Health is one of the top 6 of 16 programs in the country funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to address the health issues of people with disabilities.  As part of that top tier, ODH is available to mentor the other 10 programs as they begin their work in disability and health.  The ODH partners with the University of New Mexico Center for Development and Disability (CDD) to accomplish these goals. 

ODH is guided in its activities by an advisory board, the Disability and Health Advisory Council (DHAC).  The Council advises on program priorities and facilitates the development and implementation of a Statewide Strategic Plan for Promoting the Health of People with Disabilities. Subcommittees of the DHAC work more specifically on the priority issues of Health Promotion, Disability Data, research and Evaluation and Policy Development.

One of ODH's primary approaches to disability and health issues is the development of collaborative relationships with the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) and the 6 Centers for Independent Living (CILs) throughout the state to bring people with disabilities into the health planning process.  A second approach is to develop partnerships with university programs to stimulate and coordinate disability research in New Mexico.