Disability

People with disabilities are one of the largest and most underserved subpopulations in the United States, consisting of more than 54 million Americans, many of whom have physical disabilities. This group experiences higher prevalence, incidence, and burden of disease as well as shorter survival and differences in healthcare access, quality, and outcomes. Moreover, evidence suggests that individuals with disabilities are statistically more likely to be female, from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, older, and living in poverty.

CSEPH faculty are at the cutting edge of understanding how social and environmental factors affect disability. Using stroke as a model disease, CSEPH faculty are examining how social factors including family, neighborhood and social structure influence stroke recovery. Our faculty are also working to understand Long COVID as a disability, and how accommodations in the workplace can improve well-being for people with Long COVID. Finally, emerging scholarship within CSEPH brings together epidemiologic approaches with qualitative methodologies to center the experience of people with mobility disabilities and examine how the built environment shapes social connectedness.