Wellbeing (e.g. Youth, Community, Mental)
Sharing Session - 60 Minutes
Sara Lyons, MPH
Program Analyst, Health and Disability
National Association of County and City Health Officials
In the United States, 61 million adults live with a disability. People with disabilities report higher rates of obesity and smoking, as well as lower rates of physical activity, compared with the general population. They also have a significantly higher risk for chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. One way to address and mitigate these health inequities is through the inclusion of people with disabilities in public health programs and services offered by local health departments (LHDs). In 2014, National Association of County and City Health Officials created a technical assistance program to support LHDs’ disability inclusion efforts in public health programs, policies, and services.
This session will highlight LHD case studies from the past five years of technical assistance. Each case study will describe the TA topics requested by the local health department as well as how the health department implemented the TA recommendations. The case studies will also highlight challenges and/or barriers that local health departments experienced and the lessons learned when supporting disability inclusion in their communities.