The Guide to Community Preventive Services and Disability Inclusion

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Disparities
• Disability Inclusion

Background:

• Millions in the U.S. have disabilities and face health disparities.
• The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) offers evidence-based health recommendations.
• This assessment evaluates the applicability of these recommendations for people with disabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if Community Guide recommendations are applicable to people with disabilities.
• To identify necessary adaptations for effective implementation in this population.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of 91 recommendations from The Community Guide across 15 health topics.
• Included an integrative literature review (1980-2011), key informant interviews, and focus groups (2011).

Main Results:

• 26 interventions require no adaptation.
• 41-33 interventions need adaptations in communication, technology, training, and physical accessibility.
• 38 interventions benefit from adaptations for enhanced disability inclusion.

Conclusions:

• Public health systems must address barriers for people with disabilities to ensure equitable reach of interventions.
• With appropriate adaptations, Community Guide recommendations can be successfully expanded to meet the needs of people with disabilities.