Notices to Readers
Publication of Institute of Medicine Report,
Disability in America
In September 1988, CDC and the National Council on Disability
requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) develop
recommendations for a national agenda for the prevention of
disabilities. As a consequence, IOM developed and published
Disability in America: Toward a National Agenda for Prevention.
The IOM report focuses on preventing conditions that
potentially lead to disability, preventing the occurrence of
secondary conditions in persons with disabilities, and minimizing
the effects of such conditions on productivity and quality of life.
In particular, the report notes that
about one in seven persons in the United States has physical or
mental impairments serious enough to affect daily activities;
the annual cost of disability to the nation is almost $200
billion;
disabilities occur disproportionately among minorities, the
elderly, and persons in lower socioeconomic groups;
disability has an impact on access to health services,
education, employment, family, and the community; and
most disabilities are preventable.
Disability in America describes a model that approaches
disability from social and public health perspectives; the report
presents five strategies to reduce the incidence and prevalence of
disability and its personal, social, and economic consequences: 1)
organization and coordination within and between the public and
private sectors, 2) public health surveillance, 3) research, 4)
access to care and prevention services, and 5) professional and
public education. Recommendations are offered to federal agencies,
state and local programs, and the private sector to develop a
coordinated, comprehensive national program to prevent disabilities
(1).
Copies of Disability in America are available from National
Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC
20418.
Reported by: AM Pope, PhD, Institute of Medicine, National Academy
of Sciences, Washington, DC. Disabilities Prevention Program,
National Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control, CDC.
Reference
Institute of Medicine. Disability in America: toward a national
agenda for prevention. Wash ington, DC: National Academy Press,
1991.
Disclaimer
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