Program seeks Council approval for an initiative titled, “Promoting Reproductive Health for Adolescents and Adults with Disabilities.” While there is increasing awareness of health disparities related to race/ethnicity, awareness of health disparities among persons with disabilities (PWD) is lagging. Systematic reviews and empirical studies have shown that PWD are underserved in preventive health care generally and reproductive health care in particular.
The goal of this initiative is to stimulate research on reproductive health for adolescents and adults with disabilities to produce an evidence base for best practices to improve care for these populations. Research gaps include: clinician education to recognize and address the unique reproductive health needs of PWD, interventions to address knowledge gaps among PWD and their caregivers and partners using an integrated lifecourse approach, and explanatory research on disparate outcomes for PWD, such as higher rates of sterilization.
This proposed concept aligns with the NICHD Strategic Planning Themes 2 and 4: Promoting Gynecologic, Andrologic, and Reproductive Health; and Improving Child and Adolescent Health and the Transition to Adulthood. It also aligns with the Cross-Cutting Topics of Health Disparities, Disease Prevention, and Infectious Disease.
This proposed concept aligns with the research priorities of multiple NICHD extramural scientific branches: Fertility and Infertility; Gynecologic Health and Disease; Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; Maternal and Pediatric Infectious Disease; and Population Dynamics. It also aligns with the research priorities of the National Center on Medical Rehabilitation Research.
Program Contact
Rosalind King
Population Dynamics Branch (PDB)
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