Populations: Minorities With Disabilities
CDC's
Disability and Health Team promotes the health and well-being of various
populations with disabilities, including ethnic and racial minorities.
It achieves this objective through public health research, partnerships,
education, and policy.
Eliminating health disparities
is one of two overarching goals in
Healthy People 2010. This
goal also applies to minorities with disabilities.
“Disability” is a broad term that refers generally to a
limitation in physical, mental or sensory function caused by one or more
health conditions. The 2000 U.S. Census
estimates that 49.7 million civilian non-institutionalized Americans
have a long-lasting disabling condition or impairment; 16.8 million
of them are ethnic and racial minorities (1).
Minorities with disabling conditions and impairments make up a
significant and important group of people who can benefit from public
health efforts. This group has the same preventive health concerns as
minorities without disabilities. However,
having both attributes,
minority and disability, has been referred to as “double jeopardy”
because of persistent racial and ethnic health disparities, cultural
distinctions, prejudice, discrimination, and economic barriers that are
coupled with environmental and access issues (2). The shortage of public
health information published about minorities with disabilities has
prompted the production of this web page.
A Bibliographic Tool for Locating
Publications
Sinclair LB,
Gomez O, compilers. Ethnic and racial populations with
disabilities: a public health bibliography. Atlanta (Georgia):
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center
on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; 2006. [pdf
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text]
References
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Waldrop J.
Disability Status: 2000. Census 2000 Brief. 2003; 1-12.
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Zawaiza T,
Walker S, Ball S, McQueen MF, editors. Diversity matters:
infusing issues of people with disabilities from underserved
communities into a trans-disciplinary research agenda in the
behavioral sciences. In: Menz FE, Thomas DF, editors. Bridging
the Gaps: refining the disability research agenda for
rehabilitation and the social sciences–conference proceedings;
2002 May 29–31; Menomonie, Wisconsin. Wisconsin: University of
Wisconsin-Stout, Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute,
Research and Training Centers; 2003. p. 279–312.
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