Since the letter, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) officially decided to include people with disabilities as a health disparities population. The decision reflects years of advocacy and follows the recommendations of a subgroup of advisors to the NIH director that included people with disabilities and experts in disability-focused research. It means that people with disabilities will be included in NIH funding and programs focused on addressing health disparities, thereby also increasing the representation of researchers with disabilities and improving inclusion of people with disabilities in research studies. This important step will serve to address the exponential health equity barriers that disabled people from intersecting marginalized groups face - including people of color, people from the LBGTQ+ community, people who live in rural areas, and people who have low incomes.
In addition to this announcement, the NIH also issued a notice of funding opportunity calling for research applications focused on novel and innovative approaches and interventions that address the intersecting impact of disability, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on healthcare access and health outcomes.
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