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Review
. 2017 Sep 12;5(3):56.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare5030056.

Reducing the Shared Burden of Chronic Conditions among Persons Aging with Disability and Older Adults in the United States through Bridging Aging and Disability

Margaret L Campbell  1 , Michelle Putnam  2
Affiliations
Review

Reducing the Shared Burden of Chronic Conditions among Persons Aging with Disability and Older Adults in the United States through Bridging Aging and Disability

Margaret L Campbell et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Persons aging with long-term disabilities such as spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis and older adults share similar chronic conditions in mid and later life in the United States. The rising general interest and more prevalent federal requirements for use of evidence-based practices (EBP) in health promotion and chronic condition interventions highlight the gap between demand and the availability of EBPs for persons aging with disability in particular. Addressing this gap will require focused efforts that will benefit substantially by bridging the fields of aging and disability/rehabilitation to develop new EBPs, translate existing EBPs across populations, and borrow best practices across fields where there are few current EBPs. Understanding distinctions between disability-related secondary conditions and age-related chronic conditions is a first step in identifying shared conditions that are important to address for both mid-life and older adults with disabilities. This review articulates these distinctions, describes shared conditions, and discusses the current lack of EBPs for both populations. It also provides recommendations for bridging activities in the United States by researchers, professionals, and consumer advocates. We argue that these can more efficiently move research and practice than if activities were undertaken separately in each field (aging and disability/rehabilitation).

Keywords: aging with disability; bridging; chronic conditions; evidence-based practice.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of shared chronic conditions of persons aging with disability and aging into disability in later life.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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