Building a future in disability and public health

The Disability Section is one of the newest sections in the American Public Health Association (APHA) and represents people with disabilities as an underserved population in all areas of public health practice. Issues involving people with disabilities cut across the overarching domains of education, training, research, and service. Therefore, every constituency group, interest area, or section in the APHA must recognize the importance of addressing disability-related issues in any initiative that focuses on improving the health of our nation. While achieving section status within APHA has given “disability” increased visibility in the largest and most prominent public health organization in the world, focusing our future on infusing disability content and perspectives on issues that impact people with disabilities in other areas of public health (e.g., environment, gerontological health, medical care, public health education and health promotion, etc.) requires an understanding of the other side’s perspective. For this to occur, the Disability Section must be used as a base for recruiting and deploying health professionals who have an interest in a dyadic area of public health (e.g., medical care and disability, gerontological health and aging with a disability), and who can begin serving in leadership positions in other sections in APHA. Building capacity within and across the other sections in APHA will be our greatest challenge over these next few years. Our journey has just begun.