Disability & Public Health

Improving the Health of People with Disabilities
through State-Based Health Programs

Project Description

The New Hampshire Disability and Public Health project (DPH) is collaboration between the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services and the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. The overarching goal of the collaboration is to promote and maximize health, prevent chronic disease, improve emergency preparedness and increase the quality of life among people with disabilities. Project activities will focus on infusing disability components into existing public health programs and activities or supporting existing public health and disability programs and activities.

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Specific program goals include:

1. Enhanced disability and public health program infrastructure and capacity
2. Improved state level surveillance and monitoring
3. Increased awareness of health-related disability policy initiatives
4. Increased health promotion opportunities for people with disabilities
5. Improved access to health care for people with disabilities
6. Improved emergency preparedness among people with disabilities
7. Effective monitoring and evaluation of program activities

Examples of project activities include a statewide Needs Assessment of disability and health, conducting accessibility assessments of primary and preventive health care facilities and providing resource plans, providing disability awareness trainings to health care providers, disseminating emergency preparedness planning kits to persons with disabilities and families, infusing a disability component into the NH Tobacco Prevention and Control Program’s Tobacco Hotline and the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program’s awareness materials. The project will serve as a clearinghouse for disability and health-related information and will make a wealth of information available through a dedicated website.

Proposed project outputs include:

• Needs assessment of disability and public health in NH
• Annual State Disability Report
• Disability & health related fact sheets and policy briefs
• Training and workshops for health care providers
• Web-based clearinghouse of health information, tools, and resources
• Customized emergency preparedness kits
• Health facility accessibility assessments

The New Hampshire Disability & Public Health project is funded by a three-year, $900,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.