Health & Well-Being

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Source: -- Choose -- A Unilever Trip Management Report AARP AC Nielsen Homescan & Spectra Agelessons Aging Clinical and Experiemental Research American Hospital Association, First Consulting Group American Medical Association Ameriprise Boomer Insights Generation Group Business and Health Institute Center for Retirement Research at Boston College Charles Schwab & Age Wave Charles Schwab and Age Wave Corporation for National & Community Service Direct Service Workforce Resource Center Employee Benefit Research Institute Evercare Family Caregiver Alliance Fleishman Hillard Focalyst Genworth Financial Health Research and Educational Trust Institute of Medicine Journal of Health and Social Behavior Journal of Human Resources Mathematica Policy Research McKinsey Global Institute MetLife MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures National Alliance for Caregiving  National Institue on Aging Securities Industry Association (SIA) Research Reports Sun Life Financial The Brookings Institution The Conference Board, Charles Mitchell, Managing the Mature Workforce The Dartmouth Atlas Project The Gerontological Society of America The Health & Retirement Study The Pew Charitable Trusts The Pew Research Center Trust for America's Health TV Land, a unit of Viacom Inc’s MTV Network University of Michigan Retirement Research Center Urban Institute

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Health & Well-Being » Disability

Why It's Important

American’s with Disabilities Act defines as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities." The level of assistance needed runs in some related proportion to level of disability. Cost is tied to assistance. Reducing disability reduces cost.

See Data By: Richmond MSA | Virginia | National

How Richmond Is Doing

Content coming.

How Virginia Is Doing

According to the CDC 2006 Disability Chartbook:

• 34.1% of 65+ Virginians report disability. This is a 13% greater prevalence than reported in the 45-64 age cohort.
• 94.2% of 65+ Virginians with a disability report access to continuous healthcare; 93.1% of 65+ Virginians without a disability report access to continuous healthcare.

(CDC, Virginia Disability Chartbook, 2006)

• Virginia had the ninth lowest disability prevalence in the CDC State-by-State Report Card in 2007.
• Virginians over 65 reported almost 6 unhealthy days per month in 2004.
• Almost 20% of 65+ Virginians are obese.

(CDC, State-by-State Report Card, 2007

How the U.S. Is Doing

A recent story in Reuters Health shared the following statistics on disability in the US states that about 1 in 5 Americans have a disability and it is expected to increase as baby boomers age, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

• The number of Americans with a disability rose 7.7 percent, or by 3.4 million people, to nearly 48 million between 1999 and 2005, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
• Arthritis was the leading cause of disability, affecting 8.6 million people. Another 7.6 million Americans said back or spine problems were the main cause of their disability and 3 million people reported heart trouble.
• Women were slightly more likely to be disabled than men at any age. The CDC also found that the number of people reporting a disability doubled for each successive age group, with about 11 percent of people ages 18-44 reporting a disability, 23.9 percent for ages 45-64, and 51.8 percent for ages 65 or older.
• Dr. John H. Klippel, president and CEO of the Arthritis Foundation, said in a statement 46 million Americans have some form of arthritis.
• "With the aging of baby boomers, the prevalence of arthritis is expected to rise by 40 percent - that is up to 67 million people -- by the year 2030," he said.
  (REUTERS, HEALTH, 2009)
  

According to a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of disability among adults in the United States:

• The prevalence of disability in 2005 (21.8%) remained unchanged from 1999 (22.0%); however, because of the aging of the population, particularly the large group born during 1946-1964 ("Baby Boomers"), the estimated absolute number of persons reporting a disability increased 7.7 percent, from 44.1 to 47.5 million.
• The three most common causes of disability continued to be
  • arthritis or rheumatism (affecting an estimated 8.6 million persons)
  • back or spine problems (7.6 million)
  • heart trouble (3.0 million)
• Presence of a severe disability is also associated with lower income levels and educational attainment.
• Some type of disability (sensory disability, physical disability, or mental disability) was reported by 52 percent of older persons in 2007.
• Almost 37 percent of older persons reported in 2005 a severe disability and 16 percent reported that they needed some type of assistance as a result.
• Fifty-six percent of persons over 80 reported a severe disability and 29 percent of the over 80 population reported that they needed assistance.
• Over 27 percent of community-resident Medicare beneficiaries over age 65 in 2006 had difficulty in performing one or more ADLs and an additional 12.5 percent reported difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs).
• By contrast, 91 percent of institutionalized Medicare beneficiaries had difficulties with one or more ADLs and 73.4 percent of them had difficulty with three or more ADLs.

(CDC, PREVALENCE OF DISABILITY IN THE US, 2005)

According to the AOA, A Profile of Older Americans: 2008, some type of disability (sensory disability, physical disability, or mental disability) was reported by 52 percent of older persons in 2007. Some of these disabilities may be relatively minor but others cause people to require assistance to meet important personal needs.

• Almost 37 percent of older persons reported in 2005 a severe disability and 16 percent reported that they needed some type of assistance as a result. Reported disability increases with age.
• Fifty-six percent of persons over 80 reported a severe disability and 29 percent of the over 80 population reported that they needed assistance. There is a strong relationship between disability status and reported health status.
• Among those 65+ with a severe disability, 64 percent reported their health as fair or poor. Among the 65+ persons who reported no disability, only 10 percent reported their health as fair or poor. Presence of a severe disability is also associated with lower income levels and educational attainment.

(AOA, PROFILE OF OLDER AMERICANS, 2008)

 

Data & Information Sources

Administration on Aging, Profile of Older Americans, 2008

http://www.aoa.gov/AoAroot/Aging_Statistics/Profile/2008/docs/2008profile.pdf

Americans with Disabilities Act

http://www.eeoc.gov/types/ada.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Prevalence and Most Common Causes of Disability Among Adults -- United States, 2005

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5816a2.htm

Center for Disease Control, The State of Aging and Health in America 2007 Report, 2007
http://www.cdc.gov/aging/pdf/saha_2007.pdf

Center for Disease Control, Virginia Disability Chartbook, 2006
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dh/chartbook/virginia.htm

Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics

http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/main_site/default.aspx

Reuters, About 1 in 5 Americans Say they are Disabled, 2009

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/04/30/eline/links/20090430elin019.html

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

http://www.census.gov/acs/www/

Virginia Department for the Aging, 2004 Health Conditions, Disability and Mortality Estimates, 2004
http://www.vda.virginia.gov/2000hcde.asp