​Adulthood: Disability

Adulthood: Disability

People with disabilities often are underserved in health prevention and health promotion campaigns. These individuals are as at risk for other health problems as any other person, but health prevention and promotion outreach to them requires addressing their individual needs. As an example, consider some of the issues that would need to be addressed in a health promotion program for sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention in a deaf community. Many deaf individuals have difficulty with reading, so it might be more effective to have a lecture with an American Sign Language interpreter. Even with this solution, however, there are considerations that need to be addressed. There is some controversy about sexually related signs, and many deaf people do not know the anatomically correct words/signs to discuss these issues. One alternative is to use the more vulgar ones that people know, but this may be offensive. As you can see, there are no easy answers, and decisions are not always clear cut. The important point to remember is that different disability populations have different needs, and having awareness of these needs helps you to be a more competent health psychology professional by designing more effective, empirically supported, programs.

For this Discussion, imagine that you are working with an oncologist specializing in breast cancer. The oncologist wants to initiate a publicity campaign promoting breast cancer screenings targeted toward women with disabilities. To prepare, select one specific disability to focus on and think about considerations you would need to address when communicating with women who have this disability through a breast cancer screening publicity campaign. (Select an issue other than deafness to use for this Discussion.)

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 the type of disability you selected. Describe at least three issues related to this disability that should be considered in a publicity campaign for this program and explain why they are important. Finally, explain what types of publicity strategies you might use and how you might communicate them to the target population.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Readings

• Travis C. B., & Meltzer, A. L. (2008). Women’s health: Biological and social systems. In F. Denmark & M. Paludi (Eds.), Psychology of women: Handbook of issues and theories (2nd ed., pp. 353–399). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

• American Psychological Association. (2007). Guidelines for psychological practice with girls and women. American Psychologist, 62(9), 949–979.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

• Andrews, E. E. (2011). Pregnancy with a physical disability: One psychologist’s journey. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/disability/resources/publications/newsletter/2011/12/pregnancy-disability.aspx

• McDermott, S., Moran, R., Platt, T., & Dasari, S. (2007). Health conditions among women with a disability. Journal of Women’s Health, 16(5), 713–720.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

• Requejo Harris, J., Merialdi, M., Merzagora, F., Aureli, F., & Bustreo, F. (2010). The World Health Organization policy on global women’s health: New frontiers. Journal of Women’s Health, 19(11), 2115–2118.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

• Wood, R., & Douglas, M. (2007). Cervical screening for women with learning disability: Current practice and attitudes within primary care in Edinburgh. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(2), 84–92.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.