Disability

Introduction

Disability affects all age groups and all parts of the population. Some impairments and illnesses are particularly associated with ageing, while some people have a lifetime disability. Others are acquired, either by accident or disease. Disability impacts on individuals, family and communities.

In the social model of disability, disability is defined as the disadvantage experienced by an individual as a result of barriers (attitudinal, physical etc) that impact on people with impairments and/or ill health.

The Department of Health is committed to improving the health and well-being of the population, with an emphasis on person-centred care. In January 2005, the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit published ‘Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People’. This report sets out a twenty year strategy that supports independent living, choice and control for disabled people through individual budgets, person-centred planning and self-assessment.

Disabled people should be able to participate in the activities other people take for granted like getting a job, travelling, raising a family or going out with friends. However, there is evidence that there are barriers to participation that vary geographically, including within the North East (Hammal et al 2004).

Hammal D, Jarvis SN, Colver AF. Participation of children with cerebral palsy is influenced by where they live. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 2004, 46:5:292-298.

Highlight figures

The lowest rate of limiting long-term illness was among those working in higher managerial and professional occupations (7 per cent), which was half that of those working in routine occupations (15 per cent). People who had never worked or were long-term unemployed had the highest rate of limiting long-term illness (37 per cent) of any socio-economic group. (Source: 2001 Census).

The distribution of children and adolescents with mild disabilities was higher for those from semi-skilled manual and unskilled manual backgrounds. The highest prevalence rates of severe disability in children and adolescents were among those from semi-skilled manual backgrounds. (Source: UK Statistics)

In a 2007 article in the Lancet, Professor Allan Colver of the University of Newcastle found that children with cerebral palsy have a similar quality of life as those children without disability. (Source: The Lancet)

Dickinson HO, Parkinson KN, Ravens-Sieberer U, Schirripa G, Thyen U, Arnaud C, Beckung E, Fauconnier J, McManus V, Michelsen SI, Parkes J, Colver AF. Self-reported quality of life of 8–12-year-old children with cerebral palsy: a cross-sectional European study. The Lancet 2007, 369(9580), 2171-2178.