Understanding physical and mental disabilities associated with an aging population
Abstract
Working with aging clients, or volunteers with impairments, requires knowledge, sensitivity, and proactive behavior on the part of managers and supervisors. This effective practice, submitted by the National Service Inclusion Project in June of 2007, explains the four major categories of physical and mental disabilities. Understanding these disabilities is an important first step towards inclusion in national and community service programs — both in designing or choosing appropriate resources and providing accommodations. Adapted from the online article, Accessible Design of Consumer Products, PART II: Disabilities and Specific Barriers to Accessibility, from the Trace Center, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.Issue
A significant portion of the United States population (over thirty million) experiences some type of physical or mental disability — acquired at birth or through accident or disease. Many disabilities are often acquired as people age. This is especially significant, as the population as a whole is aging.Action
The four major categories of disability are as follows:- Visual
Visual disability represents a continuum, from people with very poor vision, to people who can see light but no shapes, to people who have no perception of light at all. However, generally it is useful to think of this population as representing two broad groups: those with low vision and those who are legally blind. There are an estimated 8.6 million people with some type of vision loss (3.4 percent of the U.S. population). Many diseases causing severe visual disabilities are common in those who are aging — glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. In the elderly population the percentage of persons with vision loss is very high.
Those with visual disabilities have the most difficulty with visual displays and other visual output (e.g., hazard warnings). In addition, there are problems in utilizing controls where labeling or actual operation is dependent on vision (e.g., where eye-hand coordination is required, as with a computer mouse). Written operating instructions and other documentation may be unusable, and there can be difficulties in manipulation (e.g., insertion/placement, assembly).
- Hearing
Hearing disability is one of the most prevalent chronic disabilities in the U.S. Approximately 22 million people in the U.S. (8.2 percent) have some kind of hearing loss. Of those, 2.4 million have severe to profound deafness. Hearing disability means any degree and type of auditory disorder, while deafness means an extreme inability to discriminate conversational speech through the ear. Deaf people, then, are those who cannot use their hearing for communication. People with a lesser degree of hearing loss are called hard of hearing. Usually, a person is considered deaf when sound must reach at least 90 decibels (5 to 10 times louder than normal speech) to be heard, and even amplified speech cannot be understood.
Hearing disabilities can be found in all age groups, but loss of hearing acuity is part of the natural aging process. 23 percent of those aged 65 to 74 have hearing disabilities, while almost 40 percent over age 75 have hearing loss. The number of individuals with hearing disabilities will increase with the increasing age of the population and the increase in the severity of noise exposure.
Functional Limitations Caused by Hearing Disabilities
The primary difficulty for individuals with hearing loss in using standard products is receiving auditory information. This problem can be compensated for by presenting auditory information redundantly in visual and/or tactile form. Familiar coping strategies for people with hearing loss include the use of hearing aids, sign language, lipreading and TDD's (telecommunication devices for the deaf).ASL (American Sign Language) is commonly used by people who are deaf. It should be noted, that this is a completely different language from English. Thus, deaf people who primarily use ASL may understand English only as a second language, and may therefore not be as proficient with English as native speakers.
Telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) are becoming more common in households and businesses as a means for deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate over the phone. - Physical
Functional Limitations Caused by Physical Disabilities
Problems faced by individuals with physical disabilities include poor muscle control, weakness and fatigue, difficulty walking, talking, seeing, speaking, sensing or grasping (due to pain or weakness), difficulty reaching things, and difficulty doing complex or compound manipulations (push and turn). Individuals with spinal cord injuries may be unable to use their limbs and may use "mouthsticks" for most manipulations. Twisting motions may be difficult or impossible for people with many types of physical disabilities (including cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy).Some individuals with severe physical disabilities may not be able to operate even well-designed products directly. These individuals usually must rely on assistive devices which take advantage of their specific abilities and on their ability to use these assistive devices with standard products. Commonly used assistive devices include mobility aids (e.g., crutches, wheelchairs), manipulation aids (e.g., prosthetics, orthotics, reachers) communication aids (e.g., single switch-based artificial voice), and computer/device interface aids (e.g., eyegaze-operated keyboard).
Some major causes of these disabilities are arthritis (or osteoarthritis), cerebral palsy (CP), spinal cord injury, head injury (cerebral trauma), stroke, loss of limbs or digits, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), Muscular Dystrophy (MD). Diseases commonly associated with aging include arthritis, stroke, and Parkinson's.
- Cognitive/Language
Functional Limitations Caused by Cognitive/Language Disabilities
Age-related diseases in this group include Alzheimer's which is a degenerative disease that leads to progressive intellectual decline, confusion, and disorientation. Dementia is a brain disease that results in the progressive loss of mental functions, often beginning with memory, learning, attention, and judgment deficits.Multiple Disabilities
It is common to find that whatever caused a single type of disability also caused others. This is particularly true where disease or trauma is severe, or in the case of disabilities caused by aging.
Context
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, a civil rights law, was created to assure equal opportunity for people with disabilities in all aspects of American life. The ADA and other federal laws also forbid discrimination on the basis of disability and provide for equal access to education, housing, transportation, and health care.Recognizing and dealing appropriately with physical and mental limitations is an important issue for nonprofits and other organizations.
Citation
Accessible Design of Consumer Products, PART II: Disabilities and Specific Barriers to Accessibility, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Online at http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/consumer_product_guidelines/consumer.pcs/disabil.htm
Posted On
October 24, 2007For More Information
Resources
From the Resource Center Lending Library:Inclusion: Creating an Inclusive Environment: A Handbook for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in National and Community Service Programs
Item no. R2928
Designed to assist national and community service program managers in creating an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. Addresses outreach, recruitment, legal requirements, accommodation, environmental factors, and self-evaluation. Includes a resource list, glossary, and tips for accessible presentations. Also available online at http://nationalserviceresources.org/resources/online_pubs/disablility_issues/
ENABLE People with Disabilities and Computers
Item no. E2836
CD-ROM profiling people with a range of disabilities (including blindness, hearing and mobility impairments of various kinds, stroke, and cerebral palsy) who use technology to enhance their lives at work, school, and home. Also available in video format with descriptive audio (Item number: V2813), 45 minutes.
Source Documents
Related Practices
Related sites
Americans with Disabilities Act