Nurse Practitioners Promoting Disability Pride For All
Discover how nurse practitioners can increase disability inclusion and improve health outcomes for this patient population.
Exactly 34 years ago — on July 26, 1990 — the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. The signing of this act was the culmination of yearslong campaigning by disability and civil rights movements to incorporate civil rights legislation for persons with disabilities. Though many changes and revisions occurred between the act’s introduction in April of 1988 and its passage more than two years later, the act’s goals remained consistent throughout: prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities across all aspects of public life, including employment, housing, transportation, health care and more.
In honor of this historic milestone in U.S. civil rights, Disability Pride Month is celebrated annually in July. Much like other pride months throughout the year, this observance aims to increase visibility of the wide spectrum of disability, eliminate stigma against people with disabilities and foster disability inclusion. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is committed to harnessing the power of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to strengthen our collective professional and clinical excellence. Read on to learn how nurse practitioners (NPs) can advance high-quality, equitable health care for members of the disabled community.
Understanding the Impact of Disability
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1 in 4 (28.7%) adults in the U.S. have some type of disability. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that “1.3 billion people — about 16% of the global population — currently experience significant disability.” These disabilities encompass a wide spectrum of conditions and symptoms — mobility limitations, deafness, blindness and intellectual disabilities — and can appear as early as birth or manifest later in life. WHO explains that disability is more than just common, it’s universal — stating that “Disability is part of being human. Almost everyone will temporarily or permanently experience disability at some point in their life.”
Despite the prevalence of disability across the globe, the CDC reports
that “compared to people without disabilities, people with disabilities have less access to health care, have more depression and anxiety, engage more often in risky health behaviors such as smoking and are less physically active.” The CDC is not alone in this assessment — late last year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) designated people with disabilities as a population with health disparities. On a global scale, WHO reported
that “because of the systemic and persistent health inequities, many persons with disabilities face the risk of dying much earlier — even up to 20 years earlier — than persons without disabilities.”
Fostering Disability Inclusion
One key component toward achieving health equity for people with disabilities is inclusion. “Disability inclusion means understanding the relationship between the way people function and how they participate in society,” states the CDC, “and making sure everybody has the same opportunities to participate in every aspect of life to the best of their abilities and desires.” This is especially important in the realm of health care, as 1 in 4 adults with disabilities do not have a regular health care provider and 1 in 6 adults with disabilities did not have a routine check-up in the past year. But how can NPs help bridge these gaps in health care for persons with disabilities?
In an article for the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, authors Rebecca Kronk, PhD, MSN, CRNP, FANN, CNE, ANEF, et al., state: “NPs are ideally positioned to care for persons with disabilities; however, they require better training to promote, deliver and address the health care needs of people with disabilities in all practice settings.” To that end, Kronk, et al. urge NPs to study the Core Competencies for Health Care Education and The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Education to help put their education into practice. “As The Essentials have ushered in a new era of competency-based education, we need to seize this opportunity to examine our existing curricula for gaps in educating NPs in the art and science of disability health care,” the authors conclude. “There can be a coactive relationship between The Essentials and the Core Competencies on Disability that will lead to impactful outcomes in both education and equitable health care for persons with disabilities.”
Continue to Promote Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion With AANP
Are you looking for other ways to help promote health equity for your patients and your community? Presented by the AANP Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Community Co-chair, Vanessa Pomarico-Denino, EdD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, Hot Topics in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging 2024 focuses on the important and latest topics that are relevant in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B) today. The course describes the impact of new laws affecting DEI&B nationally, as well as some solutions to help maintain DEI&B in your respective areas.
As part of the AANP Course of the Month program, members of AANP have until July 31 to complete this activity at no cost to earn 1.2 CH of CE credit before becoming available to members at a discounted rate from Aug. 1, 2024, to July 31, 2025.