Disability and Mobility Do-it-Yourself Co-Op

In 2015, federal health care costs reached $3.2 trillion, making it a major contributor to the national debt (1). With such a high cost, the nation’s health is expected to be among the best in the world; however, health care–induced spending, when combined with ongoing systemic challenges in the industry, is not improving the overall life expectancy of the US population (1). Further, the US health care system is not adequately coordinating care for patients with complex conditions, including people with disabilities (PWD), which may contribute to health disparities within this population (2). People with disabilities receive fewer treatment services than persons without disabilities, including preventative care such as screenings, vaccinations, and promotion of physical activity (PA) from health care professionals (HCPs) (3).

Health care professionals serve as gatekeepers to general health needs, including opportunities for PA. Health care professionals are involved with health care access and PA promotion and may be able to decrease health disparities that exist for PWD through the implementation of the ecological model of health behavior (EMHB) in clinical practice. The EMHB is a framework that emphasizes multiple levels of behavior that can be systematically addressed at each level to develop comprehensive health behavior interventions (4). The EMHB is used by public health professionals to address behavior change for communities they serve; however, health behavior interventions can be a low-cost initiative that HCPs can implement into their practice (5). The purposes of this article are (1) to explore the empirical experience of PWD within health care and PA arenas and (2) to provide future care implementation strategies for HCPs as informed by the EMHB.