The most recent high-profile advocate for Americans with disabilities, actor Christopher Reeve, has highlighted for the public the economic and social costs of disability and the importance of rehabilitation. Enabling America is a major analysis of the field of rehabilitation science and engineering. The book explains how to achieve recognition for this evolving field of study, how to set priorities, and how to improve the organization and administration of the numerous federal research programs in this area. The committee introduces the "enabling-disability process" model, which enhances the concepts of disability and rehabilitation, and reviews what is known and what research priorities are emerging in the areas of: Pathology and impairment, including differences between children and adults. Functional limitationsâ€"in a person's ability to eat or walk, for example. Disability as the interaction between a person's pathologies, impairments, and functional limitations and the surrounding physical and social environments. This landmark volume will be of special interest to anyone involved in rehabilitation science and engineering: federal policymakers, rehabilitation practitioners and administrators, researchers, and advocates for persons with disabilities.

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) is the principal federal agency supporting applied research, training, and development to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities. NIDRR's mission is to generate new knowledge and promote its effective use in improving the ability of persons with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community, as well as to expand society's capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with disabilities. NIDRR prides itself on being proactive in establishing program performance measures and developing accountability data systems to track the progress of its grantees. An electronic annual reporting system is used to collect data from grantees on many aspects of grant operation and outputs. Various formative and summative evaluation approaches have been used to assess the quality of the performance and results of the agency's research portfolio and its grantees. Prompted by the need to provide more data on its program results, in 2009 NIDRR requested that the National Research Council (NRC) conduct an external evaluation of some of the agency's key processes and assess the quality of outputs produced by NIDRR grantees (National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, 2009a). Review of Disability and Rehabilitation Research presents the results of that evaluation.

The eBook version of this title gives you access to the complete book content electronically*. Evolve eBooks allows you to quickly search the entire book, make notes, add highlights, and study more efficiently. Buying other Evolve eBooks titles makes your learning experience even better: all of the eBooks will work together on your electronic "bookshelf", so that you can search across your entire library of Occupational Therapy eBooks. *Please note that this version is the eBook only and does not include the printed textbook. Alternatively, you can buy the Text and Evolve eBooks Package (which gives you the printed book plus the eBook). Please scroll down to our Related Titles section to find this title. The book provides an accessible introduction to many of the current theoretical perspectives on disability; enabling readers to challenge the taken-for-granted nature of traditional knowledge and assumptions within the rehabilitation, health and community care industries, and encouraging a more critical approach both to the nature of rehabilitation following injury or illness and to the 'problem' of physical difference and disability. Through its interrogation and exploration of new theoretical perspectives on disability and rehabilitation, this book provides a unique text for students and practitioners of nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and social work and for educators and researchers in these fields.Although rehabilitation practitioners claim to aspire to client-centred practice and advocate participatory modes of research, rehabilitation theory remains curiously estranged both from theoretical perspectives developed by disabled/disability theorists and from critical perspectives on 'disability' that are emerging from other academic disciplines. Thus immune from alternate views, rehabilitation practitioners fail to question the premise that their professional assumptions are correct or 'right'. Contemporary theorists raise important questions, for example, about professional power, concepts of normality, independence and the physical body - issues central to rehabilitation - as well as to the role of the cultural environment in producing prejudice, the role of the social environment in creating disadvantage; and to issues of power and privilege and of the systemic oppression of disabled people. This book provides an introduction to the expanding body of critical work on disability by theorists from a range of perspectives, illustrating ways in which their theories and insights contest or support assumptions within rehabilitation theory. The book argues for a cross-fertilisation of ideas and challenges hierarchies of power in which nurses and therapists privilege their own assumptions, perspectives and knowledge while overlooking or ignoring the perspectives both of disabled people and of other theorists. - Provides an accessible introduction to current theoretical perspectives on disability - Demonstrates how these theoretical perspectives can inform a practitioner's approach to rehabilitation - Relevant for all the rehabilitation and health care professions

The future of disability in America will depend on how well the U.S. prepares for and manages the demographic, fiscal, and technological developments that will unfold during the next two to three decades. Building upon two prior studies from the Institute of Medicine (the 1991 Institute of Medicine's report Disability in America and the 1997 report Enabling America), The Future of Disability in America examines both progress and concerns about continuing barriers that limit the independence, productivity, and participation in community life of people with disabilities. This book offers a comprehensive look at a wide range of issues, including the prevalence of disability across the lifespan; disability trends the role of assistive technology; barriers posed by health care and other facilities with inaccessible buildings, equipment, and information formats; the needs of young people moving from pediatric to adult health care and of adults experiencing premature aging and secondary health problems; selected issues in health care financing (e.g., risk adjusting payments to health plans, coverage of assistive technology); and the organizing and financing of disability-related research. The Future of Disability in America is an assessment of both principles and scientific evidence for disability policies and services. This book's recommendations propose steps to eliminate barriers and strengthen the evidence base for future public and private actions to reduce the impact of disability on individuals, families, and society.

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This path-breaking international handbook of disability studies signals the emergence of a vital new area of scholarship, social policy and activism. Drawing on the insights of disability scholars around the world and the creative advice of an international editorial board, the book engages the reader in the critical issues and debates framing disability studies and places them in an historical and cultural context. Five years in the making, this one volume summarizes the ongoing discourse ranging across continents and traditional academic disciplines. To provide insight and perspective, the volume is divided into three sections: The shaping of disability studies as a field; experiencing disability; and, disability in context. Each section, written by world class figures, consists of original chapters designed to map the field and explore the key conceptual, theoretical, methodological, practice and policy issues that constitute the field. Each chapter provides a critical review of an area, positions and literature and an agenda for future research and practice. The handbook answers the need expressed by the disability community for a thought provoking, interdisciplinary, international examination of the vibrant field of disability studies. The book will be of interest to disabled people, scholars, policy makers and activists alike. The book aims to define the existing field, stimulate future debate, encourage respectful discourse between different interest groups and move the field a step forward.

Unique! New Evidence-Based Practice chapter provides an overview of the important concepts of EBP and the WHO model of health and disease. Discussion questions on the companion Evolve website provide you with ideas for further study. Unique! Research article analyses on Evolve provide more in-depth analysis and promote the writing style you should employ. New authors Russell Carter and Jay Lubinsky bring an interdisciplinary focus and a stronger emphasis on evidence-based practice.

This revised second edition differs from the first edition in a number of significant ways. Each chapter has been rewritten and many of them substantially revised. Several chapters were added based on feedback received from several teachers who used the text in their classes in the medical aspects of disability.

Race, Culture and Disability: Rehabilitation Science and Practice is a guide to understanding the research and practical issues related to race, culture and disability in rehabilitation services. Due to an increase in ethnically diverse individuals with disabilities, this text is an extremely timely and relevant contribution for researchers, practioners, and students. Some topics covered include disability identity, psychological testing, community infrastructure, employment issues and more.

The World Report on Disability suggests more than a billion people totally experience disability. They generally have poorer health, lower education and fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. This report provides the best available evidence about what works to overcome barriers to better care and services.