Health Equity & Disability

Public health professionals have a responsibility to ensure accessibility and inclusion is considered when addressing health equity. NHPHA has partnered with the NH Disability and Health Program at UNH to curate a list of resources, trainings, and organizations that can support individuals and departments in making their programs, venues, and policies accessible and inclusive of everyone. 

Resources

• Disability RAPP: A publication organized by the Disability Rights Center, UNH Institute on Disability, and the NH Council on Developmental Disability that shares research, advocacy, policy, and practice related to disability.
• 5 Steps for Inclusive Health Promotion: This NACCHO guide gives health departments five actionable steps to promote the inclusion and engagement of people with disabilities in all their public health programs, products, outreach, and services.
• Disability Language Guide: This guide provides tips on best language practice for discussing disability. It also includes a glossary of preferred terms.
• Community Health Inclusion Index: This set of survey tools from NCPHAD is designed to help communities gather information on the extent to which there are health living resources that are inclusive of all members of the community, including persons with disabilities.

Training

• Leveraging Partnerships with Disability Organizations: This National Association for County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) training provides strategies to local health departments to leverage partnerships with local disability organizations to ensure programs within local public health meet the needs of people with disabilities.
• Responsive Practice: Two free, virtual trainings designed to enhance health care providers’ ability to deliver disability-competent care that is accessible to people with disabilities. Participants will learn strategies and approaches to identify, address, and help remove barriers to care.
• Cultural Competence with Disability: These brief modules help public health professionals, and their partners learn more about disability, promote health equity for people with disabilities, and acquire strategies to offer accessible and inclusive public health for all.
• Prepared4ALL: Whole Community Inclusive Emergency Planning: This free, eight lesson course will increase your knowledge about whole community emergency planning, including COVID-19 planning, as well as provide basic information needed to connect with your own local emergency planners, public health professionals, and community.

More Information

• NH Disability and Health Program: a CDC funded project at the UNH Institute on Disability that works to promote health and wellness for adults with mobility disabilities and/or Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). NH DHP is available to NH public health professionals and departments to improve inclusion and accessibility. Contact: disability.health@unh.edu.
• NH Council on Developmental Disabilities
• NACCHO Health and Disability Program: a program that provides local health departments with the tools and resources needed to successfully include people with disabilities in all local health department activities.
• National Center for Health, Physical Activity, and Disability: a public health practice and resource center focusing on health promotion, wellness, and quality of life of people with disabilities. NCHPAD supports local, state, and national organizations in adopting guidelines, recommendations and adaptations that promote the inclusion of children and adults with mobility limitations in public health practices.