Become a Disability A.L.L.Y. —
Information for Healthcare Providers
All healthcare practices have patients with disabilities. Yet people with disabilities often face increased barriers when attempting to access care.
Providers, take steps to assess and enhance your practice. Be a healthcare A.L.L.Y. for individuals with disabilities. Small changes can make a measurable difference in the life of someone with a disability.
Step 1: Assess your practice
Use these sample checklists to determine areas of opportunity:
- ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities
- Inclusive Health Principles and Strategies: How to Make your Practices Inclusive of People with Intellectual Disabilities
Step 2: Learn what you can do to build a more inclusive practice.
Use the graphics and videos below and join CDC in championing disability allyship by sharing these digital materials within your health system and community.
Personal Stories of Inclusive Health Care
Hear directly from healthcare providers and people with disabilities on why healthcare inclusion is so important. Please watch these impactful videos. Share them and the images with quotes from Special Olympic athletes sharing the positive role that healthcare providers have made in their lives. Hear also from fellow health professionals on why they champion inclusion in their practices.
Person with lived experience
Dustin Plunkett
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 4 MB]
Person with lived experience
Ian Kahalewai
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 5 MB]
Person with lived experience
Michael Leon
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 8 MB]
Person with lived experience
Rudolpha Richards
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 10 MB]
Provider
Anne Williams
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 12 MB]
Provider
David W. Jenkins
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 17 MB]
Provider
Kathleen Rodriguez
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 9 MB]
Provider
Rakesha Butler
Watch on YouTube
Download [MP4 – 10 MB]
Download Novie Craven (1200 x 627)
Download Nikki Tsakovitz (1200 x 627)
Download Justin Hunsinger (1200 x 627)
Download Chelsey Chavez (1200 x 627)
Download Alicia Stevens (1200 x 627)
Download Angela Breitmeyer (1200 x 627)
Download Novie Craven (1080 x 1080)
Download Nikki Tsakovitz (1080 x 1080)
Download Justin Hunsinger (1080 x 1080)
Download Chelsey Chavez (1080 x 1080)
Download Alicia Stevens (1080 x 1080)
Download Angela Breitmeyer (1080 x 1080)
Ideas for Building a More Inclusive Practice
More than 1 in 4 people live with a functional disability. These include disabilities in vision, hearing, mobility, cognition, self-care, and independent living.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that healthcare entities provide full and equal access for people with disabilities: Factsheet: Health Care and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The following disability inclusion strategies can be a great place to start:
- Welcoming Spaces: Ensure your programs and physical spaces are accessible and welcoming to people with disabilities.
- Communication: Ensure your communications, including written and spoken language, materials, and interactions with the community, are accessible to people with disabilities.
- Awareness and Training: Understand your community and train your staff on the barriers and challenges faced by people with disabilities, including people-first language and how to remove any barriers.
- Sustainable and Intentional Inclusion: Build intentional and sustainable inclusion by changing organizational culture to value and understand the importance of including everyone.
These strategies were adapted from Special Olympics: Inclusive Health Principles and Strategies. Additional resources and trainings can also provide helpful guidance and direction.
When healthcare providers champion an inclusive practice, everyone benefits.
Find resources to foster an inclusive practice: https://bit.ly/43RhB25
#DisabilityALLY
#Inclusion4Health
Healthcare providers: Are you an ally to those with disabilities?
Learn more: https://bit.ly/43RhB25
#DisabilityALLY
#Inclusion4Health
Healthcare providers are among the most important allies to people with disabilities. Providers who champion accessibility in their practices can have a significant impact on the lives of people with disabilities and their families.
Find resources to bring awareness to disability allyship: https://bit.ly/43RhB25
#DisabilityALLY
#Inclusion4Health
Healthcare providers: Is your medical practice inclusive of all patients?
Share this checklist with your colleagues to start a conversation about accessibility in healthcare settings.
#DisabilityALLY
#Inclusion4Health
Healthcare providers: What tools, strategies, and practices does your office implement to ensure accessibility for people of all abilities?
Share examples in your practice of accessibility and inclusion.
#DisabilityALLY
#Inclusion4Health
Everyone involved in providing health care can be an ALLY.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/43RhB25
#DisabilityALLY
#Inclusion4Health
- Disability and Health Data System (DHDS)
- National Policy and Legislation
- Health Equity Framework for People with Disabilities (ncd.gov)
- Including People with Disabilities in Public Health Programs and Activities
- Disability & Health Resources for Facilitating Inclusion and Overcoming Barriers
- CDC and Special Olympics: Inclusive Health
- CMS: Improving Access to Care for People with Disabilities
- ADA: Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Mobility Disabilities
- ADA National Network: Health Care and the Americans With Disabilities Act
- NACCHO Fact Sheet: Five Steps for Inclusive Health Promotion
- Health Care for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Toolkit for Primary Care Providers
- Including disability in all health equity efforts: an urgent call to action—The Lancet Public Health
- Special Olympics: Health Professional Training
- NCHPAD: Health Disparities and Cultural Competence
- NACCHO: Health and Disability 101 Training for Health Department Employees
- CMS: Modernizing Health Care to Improve Physical Accessibility
- OSU Nisonger Center: Disability Continuing Education for Healthcare Providers
- IDEAL RRTC Webinar Series: Reimagining Primary Health Care for Individuals with Disabilities
- Partnering to Create a More Accessible Future: A Panel Conversation about Ableism and Racism in Healthcare
- AUCD: Understanding Health and Health Promotion for People with ID
- AUCD: Communication Skills in the Context of Health and Wellness
- NH Disability and Health Program: Healthcare Provider Trainings
- Upstate NY: Practical Recommendations for Enhancing the Care of Patients with Disability