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Bringing the 12.8% of children with special healthcare needs into the national response to the childhood obesity epidemic will require new information, a view of health promotion beyond that which [...]

Little is known about effective at-home oral care methods for people with developmental disabilities (DDs) who are unable to perform personal preventive practices themselves and rely on caregivers for assistance.

The training of health care providers has been identified as key to resolving the health disparities experienced by persons with disabilities. We contend that: 1) cultural competency provides a useful conceptual framework for teaching disability-related content to health professions students; 2) educational experiences can be structured to reflect the socio-cultural complexity of the ‘disability culture;’ 3) desired competencies associated with culture can be defined with regard to professionals' approach to patients with disabilities; 4) exposure to persons who have disabilities in their homes allows the student to make connections between the nuances of daily life with a disability and one's health care needs; 5) the framework allows the disability culture to be integrated with other cultural contexts, including race and ethnicity; and 6) the framework acknowledges the potential impact of providers' conscious or unconscious recognition of their potential membership in the disability culture on their approach to patients with disabilities.

Two reports by the U.S. surgeon general noted the disproportionate impact of oral disease on and lack of oral health information regarding people with disabilities.

Conflicting legal, administrative, and professional policies surround family involvement in the deinstitutionalization process. This article addresses these discrepancies and makes recommendations for developing effective and consistent channels of policy among social workers and other helping professionals.