Rupa S. Valdez, PhD
Researchers at the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University are calling on the National Institutes of Health – and America as a whole – to take bold steps to overcome the grave health disparities faced by people with disabilities.
The UVA School of Medicine’s Rupa S. Valdez, PhD, and her colleague Bonnielin K. Swenor, PhD, MPH, at Johns Hopkins have authored a “Viewpoint” editorial in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine outlining a plan to improve the health and lives of the more than 27% of Americans who have some form of disability.
“People with disabilities often don’t get the same access to healthcare or have as good health outcomes as people without disabilities. This is because of unfair ways that things are set up in our society that make it harder for them to get the care they need,” said Valdez, of the UVA School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences and the UVA School of Engineering’s Department of Engineering Systems and Environment. “Our hope is that people who read this will feel called to make things fair and equal for disabled people. This call to action isn’t only for policymakers, federal agencies, healthcare administrators or individual clinicians but for every person.”
Read full press release in UVA Health newsroom.
Filed Under: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Faculty, Research