Disability and Health Workgroup

Approximately 61.4 million (25.7 percent) adults in the United States live with a disability.¹ Health is an important issue for all population groups, including individuals with disabilities — who are more likely to be negatively affected by health disparities than the general population.² Addressing these health disparities will require multiple approaches, as many factors contribute to health. These include healthy choices, preventive health care services, easy-to-access community environments, and social opportunities.

The core Disability and Health objectives represent initial priority areas for which data from the past decade are available. These objectives don’t overlap with other Healthy People objectives. The DH objectives promote and track preventive health care services, mental health, and housing and education opportunities. Additional areas that contribute to the health of individuals with disabilities, like physical activity, are represented in other Healthy People 2030 objectives, which are available to search and view. However, the availability of data about people with disabilities will depend on whether people with disabilities were identified in the data source and whether the data analysis included this population.

There are many ways to enhance the health of individuals with disabilities. The links below provide information and resources from key federal agencies whose work is represented in Healthy People.