Measuring Disability and Monitoring the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities…

1. Measuring Disability and Monitoring the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities… … the work of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics Jennifer H. Madans National Center for Health Statistics, USA for the Washington Group on Disability Statistics

2. The Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) • June of 2001-- the UN International Seminar on the Measurement of Disability, based on a broad consensus on need for population based measures of disability, recommended the development of principles and standard forms for global indicators of disability to be used in censuses. • The Washington Group, made up of representatives from national statistical offices, has pursued these goals over the past 10 years with recognized success.

3. Role of the Washington Group • Foster international cooperation in the area of health and disability statistics • Untangle the web of confusing and conflicting disability estimates • Develop a short set of general disability measures • Develop extended set/s of items to measure disability on population surveys • Address methodological issues associated with disability measurement • Produce internationally tested measures for use to monitor status of disabled populations.

4. Moving from Concept to OperationalDefinition The Definitional Paradox • There is no single operational definition of disability • Different operational definitions lead to different estimates • The question you are trying to answer (the purpose) will determine which definition to use • Need to understand the choices that are being made when choosing a definition

5. Health Condition (disorder/disease) Participation (Restriction) Body Function & Structure (Impairment) Personal Factors Environmental Factors Locating Risk in the ICF Model ? ACTIVITY Source: World Health Organization, 2001

6. UN Convention and WG Purpose: Equalization of Opportunities % Employed • Identify those at greater risk than the general population for limitations in participation • Defined by the ability to carry out basic actions (walking, seeing, remembering, etc)

7. WG questions for censuses: Because of a Health problem: • Do you have difficulty seeing even if wearing glasses? • Do you have difficulty hearing even if using a hearing aid? • Do you have difficulty walking or climbing stairs? • Do you have difficulty remembering or concentrating? • Do you have difficulty with (self-care such as) washing all over or dressing? • Using your usual (customary) language, do you have difficulty communicating (for example understanding or being understood by others)? Response categories: No - no difficulty; Yes - some difficulty; Yes - a lot of difficulty; Cannot do at all

8. Measuring Severity within Domains of Functioning At least:

9. Measuring Severity in Population (%)

10. Standardized Approach to Monitoring the UN Convention • By standardizing these questions it will be possible to provide comparable data cross-nationally for populations living in a variety of cultures with varying economic resources; • Data can be used to assess a country’s compliance with the UN Convention and, over time, their improvement in meeting the requirements set out under the Convention.

11. Population aged 15 years + who never attended school, by disability status (%)

12. Population aged 15 years + who never attended school, by disability status (%)

14. Meeting Products & More Information • Background information, • WG Objectives, • Summaries of all meetings, including all papers and presentations are posted on the Washington Group website: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/washington_group.htm