Health and Disability Policy News

Heat can exacerbate preexisting conditions, including neurological, respiratory, cardiovascular diseases, and more. While the risk of heat-related illness applies to everyone, those at the highest risk include the very young, older adults, and people with disabilities.

Researchers at the Life Span Institute’s Research and Training Center on Independent Living are working to learn more about effective ways to promote aerobic exercise among this group with a pilot study involving 10 participants in a 16-week virtual intervention program. 

A team from the KU Center on Developmental Disabilities in the Life Span Institute led the development of the Special Issue of Inclusion, the e-journal of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

The National Institutes of Health has announced changes that will now designate people with disabilities as a population with health disparities.

With the support of new $2.25 million federal grant the State of the States in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities project is poised to build on its more than 40 years of financial information translation and dissemination to bring those data stories to new audiences.

People with disabilities are invited to participate in a national study based at the University of Kansas that aims to document their experiences with a variety of issues to understand the needs of underrepresented communities.

The KU Life Span Institute is working the state to better understand the impact to thousands of Kansans stuck on a waitlist for disability services. Researchers are looking for solutions to the current backlog as well as how to prevent future delays for essential support services.

Following National Barrier Awareness Day on May 7, we’re calling attention to several ways people with disabilities encounter obstacles in their daily lives — and why accessibility for everyone is important.

People frequently assume guardianship is the best or only option for adults with disabilities who need supports with decision making.  However, the highly restrictive nature of legal guardianship arrangements is often not well understood, and people are often unaware of how difficult and expensive guardianship arrangements can be to change.

Research by KU scientists and others has long reinforced that career development opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities provide not only financial benefits, but improved physical and mental health, and better quality of life. Researchers also have established that with appropriate supports, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can participate in competitive integrated employment.