Prioritizing Inclusion: Elevating Disabilities in Research, Innovation, and Funding
“We’re an afterthought.” People with disabilities have been overlooked in healthcare research and innovation for too long. It’s time for federal and state entities to recognize us as a priority population, just as they do for economically disadvantaged groups and racial or ethnic minorities. When disability is left out, so is essential data and funding - and without them, real progress in accessible healthcare is impossible. We must continue to push for full inclusion and equal access that everyone deserves.
Dive into more insightful discussions from the NextGen Accessibility Summit hosted by TDI on accessible technologies and policies: https://tdiconf.com/register/.
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Transcript and Video Description
Video Description: The post has a video thumbnail with a blue background. The top has a logo of TDI with “2024: NextGen Accessibility Summit” with the middle "Prioritizing disability representation" in white text with rose background. A woman with blonde wavy hair is sitting in front of the camera with shelves, books, and decorative items behind her. She is wearing a navy blouse. Four other panelists are below.
Transcript: Most research and academic literature definitely prioritize the investment and funding in areas such as economic status and economically disadvantaged, as well as racial, sexual, and gender disadvantages. These groups often receive designated funding, whereas disabilities often don’t - they’re at the bottom of the list, or they’re forgotten, or an afterthought. Recently, the National Institutes of Health added disabilities as a priority population, which is really important because we can finally get data about what's affecting innovation in these populations. We just don't know yet. This was a huge problem facing telehealth that people just didn’t know what would be needed—things like captions and access—that also need to be there. [The screen fades to show a thumbnail of a faded white background of a doctor holding hands with another individual.] Deaf. Healthy. DeafHealth. Learn more at www.deafhealthaccess.org.] [The screen fades to show a logo of TDI].