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ANNEX 2: Physical and Complex Disabilities Client Group R&D Priorities: Priority B2: Assessments of disability and handicap

  • Last modified date:
    9 February 2007

Priority B2: Assessments of disability and handicap

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Importance

When planning NHS services for people with disabilities, three issues are important. First, no service can be planned without an accurate assessment of the prevalence and type of disability in a given locality. Types of disability are distinguished by diagnosis, e.g. cerebral palsy, rheumatoid arthritis, and also by full assessment of the extent of the disability caused by the impairment. This will vary from slight to moderate to severe. Second, in any assessment of disability, planning must take into account the level of cognitive ability of the disabled person and the amount of social and psychological stress that person faces. For example, evidence suggests that social isolation is a particularly significant issue for disabled people. Third, there are particular crisis points at which additional services are needed, such as the passage from childhood to adulthood and from community to residential care.

There is a need to know what critical features affect the need for social or residential care. Clearly, assessment of need is fundamental if we are to improve the health and quality of life of disabled people. Any measure aimed at preventing primary impairment and its secondary effects can only by assessed if we have good baseline date on incidence and prevalence. There are still major gaps in our knowledge of such fundamental facts.

Examples of Research and Development Objectives

  1. Identify the incidence of physically and mentally disabling conditions and the associated health needs in differing localities, urban and rural, and at different ages, from childhood to old age.
  2. Identify the incidence and impact of lifetime transitions on disability, e.g. puberty, establishing independence from parents, entering the workforce, retirement.
  3. Assessment of the impact of learning disorders on social and psychological wellbeing.
  4. Incidence and prevalence of psychological distress and psychiatric illness in people with physical and learning disability and their carers.
  5. Identification of emotional needs of people with complex disabilities.
  6. Evaluation of the impact of social isolation on people with disability.

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