Disability Resource Digest
Volume 7, Issue 5 May 2007
The Disability Resource Digest (DRD) is a special project of SMD Alliance. SMD Alliance is based in Manitoba, Canada and provides strategic vision and policy direction to four SMD corporations: SMD Clearinghouse; SMD Foundation; SMD Ventures; and SMD Services.
The vision shared among the corporations is of a "community that supports the independence, participation, and empowerment of persons of all abilities." Each SMD corporation pursues a complementary mandate in working toward this vision.
The DRD is prepared primarily as an informational resource for consumers, professionals and publics interested in remaining current in disability related issues. An archive of past editions of the DRD is maintained on SMD's web site (http://www.smd.mb.ca).
Published monthly (with a single summer edition for July and August), the DRD presents summaries of, and URL addresses for, notable disability-related content on the world-wide web (WWW). The DRD focuses on recently posted content but also includes coverage of other web pages of interest. The URL addresses cited in the DRD are current at the time of publication. But as those posting content on the web often revise URL addresses, the addresses in the DRD may not remain current.
The DRD is prepared for SMD Alliance by The Project Group (TPG) Consulting Cooperative Ltd., a Winnipeg-based consulting firm. Neither SMD nor TPG are responsible for the accuracy or reliability of the content cited in the DRD.
Readers interested in learning more about SMD Alliance are invited to visit: http://www.smd.mb.ca or to contact the agency by e-mail at info@smd.ca. Readers are also invited to send comments and suggestions regarding the DRD to this same e-mail address.
ACCESSIBILITY
Accessing art through the iPod - "At one time or another everyone feels the frustration and alienation of not being able to understand what is being communicated. Perhaps you are in a country where you do not speak the language, or you find yourself in a dead zone with your cell phone. We all have had these situations. Now imagine you are a deaf person going to a gallery or a museum. If you have not taken the time to contact the institution usually several weeks in advance to request an interpreter or gone to the trouble and expense of contracting an interpreter for yourself you will find yourself in an environment that is not terribly welcoming. . . [VSAC/ Access Gallery (Colorado)] will digitally film an ASL interpreter telling the story of each painting, . . .digitize and download each segment onto the ipod where a patron who is deaf can come to the gallery at anytime the gallery is open and check out the ipod."
http://www.deaftoday.com/v3/archives/2007/04/accessing_art_t.html
Deaf audiences can 'see' dialogue - by Geoff Adams-Spink (BBCNews). "Thanks to government and Arts Council grants, more and more theatres in England are able to offer captioned performances to people with impaired hearing. Captioning is an emerging craft that demands a combination of skills - not least the ability to maintain concentration for long periods. In theory, captioning a live stage performance should be simplicity itself - all the lines are loaded into a computer so all you have to do is display them at the right time. If only it were that simple."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6583153.stm
The Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility - "The Federal Transit Administration Issues New Guidance The Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) includes three human service transportation programs administered by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) - The Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities Program, the Job Access Reverse Commute Program, and the New Freedom Program. These three federal programs provide formula funding for States and communities and are targeted to enhance transportation services for specific populations that depend on alternative transportation options for their day-to-day mobility."
http://www.unitedweride.gov/
Mobility scooter trailer gives innovator market Freedom - (youreable). "A West Midlands man who developed a pioneering mobility scooter trailer for his wife is now breaking into the North American market with his product. Steve Whitmore - whose wife Zelda is an MS sufferer who uses a mobility scooter - invented and developed the Freedom Carrier with support from the Advantage West Midlands-funded Innovation Networks programme. The moulded plastic Freedom Carrier attaches to the back of the mobility scooter and can hold up to six shopping bags."
http://www.youreable.com/TwoShare/getPage/01News/01Current/April2007/freedomcarrier
http://www.freedomcarrier.co.uk/
Red Cross makes first aid learning available to disabled people - (youreable). "The British Red Cross, with funding from The Big Lottery Fund, has embarked on a three-year nationwide project to develop first aid training delivery for disabled people. Since the project began in September 2006, the funding has allowed the charity to develop a new, more flexible first aid training programme. The new programme ensures that trainers' work with participants' abilities and learning styles to ensure essential first aid skills can be acquired. For instance, a person with a mobility impairment may be able to assist a casualty who is not breathing by giving chest compressions with their foot, instead of getting on their knees and using their hands. They may also be able to instruct a passer-by in what to do."
http://www.youreable.com/TwoShare/getPage/01News/01Current/April2007/red%20cross
We've found the solution, now let's create the problem - by Ian Macrae (Ouch). "As the Man Booker Prize short list is announced for another year, visually impaired radio presenter Ian Macrae laments the fact that he still can't get hold of accessible books in the United Kingdom. . . Of all the books published each year, 95% are not and will never be made accessible, that means readable by print disabled people. Admittedly among these will be things no one would ever want to read like weighty tomes only of interest to three people who're experts on municipal street lighting, or else rubbish like the Da Vinci Code. But that still leaves a hell of a lot of books."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/macrae_books.shtml
ADVOCACY
Big Sky Project - "The Big Sky Project is a national effort to create a new vision of the future for people with disabilities. The project is designed to raise public awareness about the serious challenges that remain for people with disabilities and develop strategies, initiatives, programs, and public policy to address them. The project was conceived in April 2004 in response to the realization that goals set many years ago that led to both the deinstitutionalization of many individuals with disabilities and the passing of the ADA have not been fully realized. The fact that there is a long way to go before individuals with disabilities are fully integrated into all aspects of society motivated UCP to jump start a far-reaching dialogue about how people with disabilities can become fully integrated in society and live life without limits."
http://www.ucp.org/ucp_general.cfm/1/16243
Disability Alert takes rally for more supports to MLAs - by Ron Ryder (The Guardian). "Disability Alert's rally for increased disability supports moved to the steps of P.E.I.'s provincial legislature Tuesday. Stephen Pate, the group's founder, was flanked by supporters as he handed fact sheets to MLAs outlining the needs of disabled Islanders. Pate has been pressing for increases to the Disability Support Program, P.E.I.'s principal effort to meet the needs of residents with physical and mental challenges. Health Minister Chester Gillan didn't accept Pate's handout but in the legislature he said government is not unaware of the needs of the disabled."
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=20814&sc=98
Disability Rights Online News - April 2007 Issue Eighteen - "Disability Rights Online News is a bi-monthly update about the Civil Rights Division's activities in the area of disability rights. The Division enforces laws prohibiting discrimination based on disability in employment, housing, access to businesses serving the public, access to government programs and services including voting and public transportation, and unconstitutional conditions in institutions of confinement."
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/newsltr0407.htm
Funding battles put user-led revolution in peril - "Back in January 2005, the prime minister's strategy unit [UK] published its Improving The Life Chances Of Disabled People report, aimed at achieving full equality for disabled people in society by 2025. One of the report's key recommendations, now part of government policy, is that by 2010 each local authority area with social services responsibilities should have its own user-led organisation (ULO) modelled on existing centres for independent living (CIL). The services provided by these organisations vary, but can include advocacy, housing advice, employment training and direct payments assistance. However, as a series of reports in DN have shown, many ULOs are struggling to survive, with some, such as Disability West Midlands and Birmingham Coalition of Disabled People, disappearing altogether. ULOs currently have to bid for contracts to provide their services to local authorities, but are often unable to compete with larger, more established bodies and charities."
http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/news/newsfocus/apr_2007.htm
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/disability/ (Life Chances report)
Independent rights expert calls for more support for UN treaty on disabilities - "Welcoming the dozens of countries which have signed the landmark new treaty protecting the rights of the world's estimated 650 million people with disabilities, a United Nations independent expert called for more States to back the pact and foster inclusive education. Vernor Muñoz, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, issued a statement today describing the large number of signatures to both the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol as 'a very positive sign of a change of attitudes towards persons with disabilities'."
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22196&Cr=disabilities&Cr1
EMPLOYMENT
Doctor, Doctor... - (Ouch). "Laurence Clark relates his lifelong struggle to avoid becoming a computer geek and how he has exploited his title for all it is worth...Funnily enough, my career advisor at special school never suggested stand-up comedian as a potential job. Their advice was a career in IT; the reasons being that I could earn good money and never encounter any wheelchair access problems by working entirely from home. I feel that, as far as jobs for disabled people go, computing has become the new basket weaving! In 1944 the Disabled Persons Employment Act designated various menial professions to disabled workers - jobs like car park attendant and lift operator. It seems to me that, sixty years later, the only difference nowadays is that we're pushing the buttons on a computer keyboard instead of the inside of a lift."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/columnists/laurence/290107_index.shtml
Enhanced toolbox available for farmers with disabilities - "Farmers and ranchers with disabilities such as amputation, paralysis, arthritis or visual impairment have an enhanced toolbox available to help them manage and maintain their farms. The Toolbox CD, the fifth edition of assistive technology for those with disabilities, comes from Purdue University's Breaking New Ground program. The Toolbox CD catalogs more than 770 assistive technology products to make agriculture more accessible for individuals with physical limitations."
http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070422/NEWS01/704220322/1008
http://www.bngtoolbox.info/
Suffering in silence - (Guardian Unlimited.) "Despite a law designed to protect them, many people with disabling conditions are unaware of their rights. One such worker, Carole Concha-Bell, tells of her experiences."
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2xrvma
ETHICS
Disturbing trend: Designer children designed to be disabled - by Joseph A. D'Agostino (POP.org/LifeSiteNews.com). "For a number of years now, a great deal of discussion has taken place among scientists and in the popular media about the genetic engineering of children. Will it soon be possible, for prices widely affordable at least to the upper-middle class, to guarantee that children have a high IQ, or excellent athletic ability, or be over 6 feet tall, or have blond hair and blue eyes? Is it right to commodify children in this way, and have parents choosing options as they do with cars? And wouldn't it be boring to live in a world someday where almost everyone is extremely intelligent and beautiful? Variety, or even the politically correct term "diversity," is the spice of life. But not everyone wants what seemed to be the three genetic engineering options: refrain and let nature take her course, attempt to repair genetic diseases but otherwise let well enough alone, or select positive qualities in children. There are parents who are deliberately ensuring that their children are born with disabilities, from deafness to dwarfism. A fourth option—inflicting permanent disabling conditions on children—is now being used."
http://www.deaftoday.com/v3/archives/2007/04/disturbing_tren.html
GENERAL INTEREST
Better Off Dead – Suicidality - by Deborah Max (Ability Magazine). "I work in a helping profession for a living. As the deputy director of a case management agency for the mentally ill, I connect with people on the fringes of society. My clients typically are poor. They may not be the most educated, the prettiest or the most pleasant. But I successfully connect with them—most likely because I, too, was not always the prettiest or most pleasant of patients. I, too, have a psychiatric diagnosis, and like many of my clients I have at times been discarded by treatment providers who couldn't or didn't want to help me. In my job, I try not to judge, and that's why the throw-aways keep coming back to me."
http://www.abilitymagazine.com/current/betteroff.html
DisabilityInfo.gov receives e-gov Institute's Knowledge Management Award - "DisabilityInfo.gov, a one-stop federal Web site for disability-related information and resources, has received the e-gov Institute's Knowledge Management Award for 'delivering high value to citizens in a knowledge management solution.' The DisabilityInfo.gov team was honored at the Eighth Annual Knowledge Management Conference and Exhibition on April 4 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C."
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/odep/odep20070503.htm
Equal opportunities in working life: video spots by YHD, Slovenia - "YHD is a small but progressive organization of persons with disabilities, many of whom are women who need personal assistance. YHD formulated their very own independent living philosophy long before they found out that an international movement working for the same goals existed. Visit their homepage at http://www.yhd-drustvo.si/"
http://www.independentliving.org/docs7/yhd-slovenia200703.html
Largest Newspaper Service for the Blind Gets Even Larger - "The National Federation of the Blind announced today the addition of the 250th newspaper, the Wilmington News Journal, to NFB-NEWSLINE, the largest electronic newspaper service for blind and disabled persons in the world. This free service allows those who cannot read conventional newsprint due to a physical disability to listen to the newspaper over the telephone. NFB-NEWSLINE currently delivers newspapers, magazines, and television listings in audio format to over 56,000 subscribers."
http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=180
Pistorius sprints to new record - (BBCnews). "South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius has become the first double amputee to run below 11 seconds for the 100m. Pistorius, who will compete at next month's Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, clocked 10.91 seconds at the SA Disabled Championships."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/6533645.stm
Service Animals – Barking up the Right Tree - by Linda Boone Hunt (Ability Magazine). "Now that I'm enjoying the benefits of my partnership with Little Mesa Annie, I wish I'd known years ago that I qualified for a service dog. Even during flares of bilateral hip-joint effusions—when I was barely ambulatory on the crutches I used sparingly to preserve my better hip—I still assumed such dogs were reserved for people who used wheelchairs. . . . But when I called Jana Edmondson, executive director of not-for-profit Canine Co-Pilots in Flagstaff, Arizona, I discovered that full-fledged service dogs can help those of us with invisible or less obvious disabilities—such as my particular form of autoimmune arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis. Edmondson told me that the sight of a service dog in public tends to part crowds, thereby reducing the handler's risk of being jostled or knocked off balance. When dogs retrieve or carry items, their human counterparts' energy is preserved. Larger dogs can offer supportive bracing to help their partners stand up, and counterbalance to steady them while walking. Canine companionship, getting out more often and the inevitable conversations resulting from having a working dog in public, combat loneliness, explained Edmondson, who has placed 10 service dogs since starting Canine Co-Pilots in 2004"
http://www.abilitymagazine.com/current/animals.html
GOVERNMENT
CANADA
A Vision of Opportunity with New Actions to Address Poverty - (Newfoundland/Labrador). "A key objective under the Poverty Reduction Strategy is to increase supports to enable persons with disabilities to participate fully in society. Budget 2007 includes $9.8 million to improve benefits, access to services and employment supports."
http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2007/hrle/0426n10.htm
Manitoba Budget 2007: The Summary Budget - In Section E (p. 166) the Budget states "Manitoba is committed to supporting the dignity, quality of life and opportunities for persons with disabilities. In 2001, the government released Full Citizenship: A Manitoba Provincial Strategy on Disability. This vision paper presented a philosophy for responding to the needs of people with disabilities and outlined five priority issues for government: income supports, employment, disability supports, access to government and issues affecting Aboriginal Manitobans with disabilities. The government is actively addressing these five priority areas. For example, commitments have been made on such issues as removing barriers to employment, providing disability supports for training programs and improving consultation with the community of people with disabilities."
http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/budget07/summary/index.html
http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/budget07/summary/sum.pdf (Summary Budget pdf)
'Rewarding Work' To Help Low-Income Working Families, And Move More Manitobans From Welfare To Work: Mackintosh - (Manitoba News Release). "Filling thousands of job vacancies and increasing family prosperity are the objectives of a ground-breaking, four-year action plan to move Manitobans from welfare to work, Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today. . . . For persons with disabilities on income assistance, three initiatives comprise an annual $300 increase to enhance job preparation and volunteerism, mental health supports, and doubling of the allowable exempted cash assets of an individual."
http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?archive=&item=1433
New Horizons for Seniors - Gilles Seguin notes in his Canadian Social Research Links that the National Advisory Council on Aging (NACA) was "quietly subsumed by the new Council (National Seniors Council). As of March 5, 2007 . . . Canada's New Government announced the creation of a new National Seniors Council [http://news.gc.ca/web/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=280639&keyword=National+Seniors+Council&keyword=National+Seniors+Council&] affiliated with the New Horizons for Seniors Program http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/isp/horizons/toc.shtml."
US
Bush orders single disability rating system - by Rick Maze. "President Bush has ordered the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments to carry out key recommendations from an interagency task force, including developing a common disability rating system that would make it easier for injured combat veterans to receive benefits. In a statement Tuesday, Bush said he has given Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson 45 days to report back on how the task force recommendations can be implemented. The report also recommends the screening of all Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans for possible traumatic brain injuries, better coordination between the VA and Defense Department for patients being transferred between the agencies and better treatment options for veterans in remote areas far from government facilities. The task force also recommended improvements in separation counseling, especially for National Guard and reserve members, and expanded programs to help veterans find post-service employment."
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/04/military_veteransdisability_taskforce_070425w/
Policy Shift Cut Disability Retirements - "Wary of rising disability retirement costs, the Department of Defense under then-secretary Caspar Weinberger quietly sought and received an internal legal opinion that, to this day, tamps down the number of wounded or ill service members awarded military disability retirement. The March 25, 1985, memo from the DoD office of general counsel, which only recently came to light, gave Defense health officials a green light to restrain military disability ratings without a change in law. They did so by directing the services to stop setting disability awards based on all service-connected ailments found during medical evaluations, and start basing them only on conditions that leave members unfit for duty."
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,132880,00.html
Senate Passes Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act - "The U.S. Senate has passed S5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would lift the ban on federally funded stem cell research. The bill had been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year. 'We are pleased to see that the Senate has passed this important legislation, but remain frustrated that President Bush has publicly stated that he will again veto the bill,' said Marcie Roth, chief executive officer of NSCIA."
http://www.spinalcord.org/news.php?dep=1&page=0&list=1108
HEALTH/WELLNESS
People with physical disabilities endure substandard health care - "Rachel steered her wheelchair into a Chicago area medical center for a series of upper gastrointestinal tests. But when Rachel, who has cerebral palsy, entered the radiology lab, the technician told her she had to stand up to take the test. 'But I can't stand,' Rachel explained. The medical center, however, had no alternate strategy, and sent her home without having the test. . . People with physical disabilities endure substandard health care and a pervasive sense that they are a burden to doctors and medical centers, according to a Northwestern University physician. These patients often ram into roadblocks when they try to obtain basic care and life-saving diagnostic tests."
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=23085
World Asthma Day 2007: You Can Control Your Asthma! - "On this Website you'll find a wide variety of information about World Asthma Day, including advice and resources for activity planning, and a listing of World Asthma Day events in your area and around the world."
http://www.ginasthma.com/WADIndex.asp
World Health Day 2007 – "Invest in Health, Build a Safer Future" - (Pan American Health Organization). "How can we stay safe in a globalized world? Pandemics, natural disasters, chemical and nuclear accidents, climate change and its consequences, and bioterrorism all have the potential to affect international public health security. Multinational partnerships are needed to expand access to drugs and vaccines, improve public health infrastructure in developing countries, and launch better public health work force education programs worldwide."
http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/whd07.htm
MEDIA
The Amputee's Guide to Sex - "Readers who can handle the hair-raising experience of Jillian Weise's gutsy poetry debut, The Amputee's Guide to Sex, will be rewarded with an elegant examination of intimacy and disability and a fearless dissection of the taboo and the hidden. Weise fuses the sterile language of medical science with the fragile territory of the heart and dares to ask whether the body is the temple of the soul or its prison."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/booksmags/bal-id.bk.sex29apr29,0,5918052.story?coll=bal-artslife-books
NEW SHOOTS- Taking Disability in New Creative Directions - by James MacGregor. "A new series of documentary films from Maverick Television is about to air on Channel 4 that takes disability into new creative directions. The show, New Shoots, airs at 8.25 on Sunday mornings, repeated at 5.40am Saturdays, presenting 12 debut documentaries all coming from disabled directors. . . Across the series New Shoots will watch breakdance crews battling it out on the dance floor, explore the personal stories of children living with pain, investigate the emotional consequences of knife crime and meet couples who have made wild monkeys part of their families."
http://www.netribution.co.uk/2/content/view/1162/182/
Novel joins non-fiction on Mind book shortlist - by Michelle Pauli (Guardian Unlimited). "A debut novel about a woman's determination to leave a mental institution heads the Mind book of the year award shortlist. Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan, which has also been shortlisted for the Orange new writers award this week, takes a comic look at the mental health system. The eponymous heroine of the book plots her escape from the Dorothy Fisher day hospital in north London but discovers that, in the topsy-turvy world of mental health, she has to prove that she is insane before she can be considered for release."
http://society.guardian.co.uk/socialcare/news/0,,2064623,00.html
VSA Arts and Volkswagen Announce National Juried Exhibition for Young Artists With Disabilities - "VSA arts and Volkswagen of America, Inc. have announced a call for Driven, a national juried exhibition for young artists with disabilities. The competition is open to young artists between the ages of 16 and 25 living in the United States who have a physical, cognitive, or mental disability. A disability is defined as an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. The entered artwork must be an original work that has been completed in the last three years. Eligible media include paintings and drawings (oil, watercolor, acrylic, pencil, or charcoal), fine art prints (lithographs, etching, intaglio, or woodcuts), photography, computer-generated prints, and two-dimensional mixed media."
http://www.afb.org/Community.asp?AnnouncementID=406
MEDICAL
Creepy-crawly robot to mend a broken heart - by Tom Simonite (New Scientist). "A device that sounds like a 21st-century version of a medicinal leech may soon be set loose inside the chests of heart patients. Resembling a robotic caterpillar, it will crawl across the surface of their beating heart, delivering treatment without the need for major surgery. The device, called HeartLander, can be inserted using minimally invasive keyhole surgery. Once in place, it will attach itself to the heart and begin inching its way across the outside of the organ, injecting drugs or attaching medical devices."
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg19426006.900?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg19426006.900
Dystonia – Deep Brain Stimulation and Medtronic - by Claudia Faerber (Ability Magazine). "Emily Blum's hair grows more every day. What were once long tresses below her shoulders, the 32-year-old communications director has gladly surrendered for a new brain surgery and the freedom to enjoy a mile-and-a-half walk each day in her Chicago neighborhood. Not long ago, Blum was struggling to walk only a couple of blocks; then recently her life changed with a cutting-edge therapy called deep brain stimulation (DBS)."
http://www.abilitymagazine.com/current/dystonia.html
FDA Provides Web Access to Information on Post-Approval Device Studies - "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today unveiled a new Web page that will keep the public informed about the status of post-approval patient studies for certain recently approved medical devices. 'FDA is committed to improving its medical device safety program and ensuring that medical devices remain safe and effective once they are in the hands of health professionals and the public,' said Daniel Schultz, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. 'Electronic access will give the public an opportunity to see progress being made on a company's post-market commitments.' Modern devices provide significant health benefits, but experience has shown that the full magnitude of some potential risks doesn't always emerge during the mandatory clinical trials that are required for approval. FDA sometimes orders post-approval studies to address remaining issues such as the product's performance once it becomes more widely available or is used over a longer period of time."
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01603.html
POLICY/RESEARCH
Change in chronic disability from 1982 to 2004/2005 as measured by long-term changes in function and health in the U.S. elderly population - by Kenneth G. Manton, XiLiang Gu, and Vicki L. Lamb (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America). "Changes in the health and functioning of the Medicare-enrolled population aged 65+ are tracked by using the 1982–2004/2005 National Long-Term Care Surveys. We found a significant rate of decline in the prevalence of chronic disability that accelerated from 1982 to 2004. These declines are significant for both persons with less severe chronic disability, which might be compensated by modifying the built environment and providing assistive devices, and for persons with more serious disability, which may be affected by reductions in the incidence and severity of disease through biomedical interventions. Declines in chronic disability continued over the 22-year period at a rate fast enough (i.e., 1.52% per annum) to contribute significantly to the long-term fiscal stability of the Medicare (and Medicaid) programs. Changes in the rate and substance of disability declines seem consistent with the intentions of policy interventions in Medicare and Medicaid."
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/103/48/18374 (html version)
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/103/48/18374 (pdf version)
Canadian Health Services Research Foundation Research Tools - "The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation has long published useful guides, reports and other resources on knowledge exchange and how to effectively get research to decision-makers. The have developed a valuable new database of tools 'to help organizations create, share and use research.' They collect strategies, stories, frameworks, evaluation plans and other literature, categorized into resources that help find research, assess it, present research results most effectively, and promote and use research evidence in decision making."
(Source: http://wellesleyinstitute.com/blog/)
http://www.chsrf.ca/knowledge_transfer/tools_e.php
International Congress on Disability - (Vox). "An international congress on 'Towards a new humanism: Ethics and disability' will be an occasion to present the outcome of research for the improvement of psycho-physical handicaps through dialogue, cooperation and solidarity between European countries. The idea is to promote a quality of life worthy of human dignity. The Congress will tackle four main topics on different aspects of disability: a session on ethics and disability will analyse the anthropological and ethical aspects of the care of persons with disability in the Mediterranean; the second session will deal with research and disability and will present results of recent medical research and social policies of the different Mediterranean and European countries aimed at improving assistance provided to persons with disability."
http://www.vox.gi/index.php?news=2162
New Regulations to Accurately Assess Students with Disabilities - (AAPD). "Last Wednesday, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced new regulations under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) allowing states to test certain students with disabilities using an alternate assessment that more appropriately aligns with their needs and yields more meaningful results for schools and parents. The new regulations provide states and schools with greater flexibility by allowing them to more accurately evaluate the students' academic progress and tailor instruction based on their individual needs."
http://www.aapd.com/News/education/070410doed.htm
New Study Shows Vision Loss Costs the US $51.4 Billion - "This week Prevent Blindness America released a new study that shows vision loss costs the U.S. an estimated $51.4 billion—a number that is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years as the nation's 78 million baby boomers reach retirement age and beyond. American families are paying a lot in costs associated with eye diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopothy. And the cost is not only financial. What's often not talked about is the bigger toll that vision loss takes on families. Many people and their loved ones feel at a loss following a vision loss diagnosis. A new AFB poll shows vision loss is the health condition Americans fear most because they worry it means loss of independence. While some families adapt successfully, there are many others who don't know where to turn for help, or even if such help exists."
http://www.afb.org/blog/blog_comments.asp?TopicID=2703
NIDRR's Long-Range Plans - "NIDRR's current Long-Range Plan, the guiding document for NIDRR-supported research, was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 15, 2006. The plan reflects consideration of comments on the draft plan from members of the public, including people with disabilities, their families and advocates, and researchers and service providers. The final plan emphasizes five "domains" as areas for expanded research efforts through 2009 in support of people with disabilities: employment; participation and community living; health and function; technology for access and function; and disability demographics."
http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/index.html
U.S. Needs Better System To Care For People With Disabilities, Report States - " In light of the expanding elderly population in the U.S., a better system is needed to provide care for the disabled, according to a report released Tuesday by the Institute of Medicine, AP/Long Island Newsday reports. The report estimates that more than 40 million U.S. residents are disabled in some way. Aging baby boomers are likely to increase the country's disabled population. The report also predicts that younger generations will contribute to the disabled population because of declines in physical activity and increases in obesity and diabetes. The report recommends that Congress and federal agencies:
• Increase funding for research into clinical health services and disability problems, including social and behavioral;
• Strengthen the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure accessibility at health care facilities for the disabled;
• Eliminate the two-year waiting period for Medicare eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries; • Modify the "in-home-use" requirement for Medicare coverage of durable medical equipment to allow reimbursement for equipment that can be used both inside and outside the home;
• Increase educational programs for health professionals that care for the disabled; and
• Develop a system through the National Center for Health Statistics, Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics to monitor the number and types of disabled U.S. residents.
The study concludes that action "taken sooner rather than later" is "essential for the nation to avoid a future of harm and inequity and, instead, to improve the lives of people with disabilities."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=68963
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11898#toc (Online version of the report with Executive Summary available as pdf download).
Expert panel faults policies on disabled people - by Will Dunham (Reuters) – "Outdated U.S. policies are keeping many disabled Americans from getting help they need, an expert panel said on Tuesday in a report faulting government inaction toward the needs of this growing population. 'Society must do more now before a crisis is upon us,' Alan Jette, director of Boston University's Health and Disability Research Institute and head of the Institute of Medicine panel, wrote in a report. 'Far too little progress has been made in the last two decades to prepare for the aging of the baby boom generation and to remove the obstacles that limit what too many people with physical and cognitive impairments can achieve,' Jette added. The report looked at a wide range of issues affecting the disabled such as accessibility of buildings and other places, gaps in public programs such as those paying for wheelchairs and scooters and health insurance coverage."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/usa_disabilities_dc;_ylt=AtIE1tipE0grhRQ6kDeWVMBMTREB
Welcome to CPRN's New Web Site - "Canadian Policy Research Networks' Web site has a new look and our organization has a new structure. Our Web site has been streamlined so you can quickly check out our latest research and to help you find publications much easier in our extensive archives. Our "What's New" feature is front and centre and now includes video."
http://www.cprn.org/index.cfm?l=en
REHABILITATION
Inpatient Rehabilitation in Canada, 2005-2006 - "Inpatient Rehabilitation in Canada, 2005-2006, is the fourth public report based on data collected for the National Rehabilitation Reporting System (NRS), which was developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). The NRS is a multi-faceted reporting system that not only provides information to support clinical activities, strategic planning and management decisions in participating NRS facilities, it also provides an opportunity to enhance the knowledge surrounding inpatient rehabilitation services in policy and system management activities."
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=PG_576_E&cw_topic=576&cw_rel=AR_363_E
Preparation of the 1st Joint WHO-World Bank World Report on Disability, Rehabilitation and Inclusion - "The World Health Assembly Resolution 58.23 (May 2005), on 'Disability, including prevention, management and rehabilitation', requested WHO to produce a World Report on Disability and Rehabilitation based on the best available scientific evidence. WHO is working together with World Bank to jointly produce the report as an underlying principal of the report is the building of partnerships for disability, rehabilitation and inclusion efforts. A meeting for the preparation of the 1st Joint WHO-World Bank World Report on Disability, Rehabilitation and Inclusion was held on April 11, 2007 at the World Bank Headquarters. Chaired by the new Vice President & Head of the Human Development Network, Joy Phumaphi, Eva Jarawan presented a brief summary of the process used to develop the 'World Report on Road Traffic Injury and Prevention,' which set the stage for a progress update on the 'World Report on Disability, Rehabilitation and Inclusion' by Alana Officer of WHO responsible for coordinating the development of the report."
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2bklkz
Shake-A-Leg Newport Expanded Programs Highlight 25th Summer - "For 25 years Shake-A-Leg Newport has created and organized summer programs for people with disabilities arising from spinal cord injury or neurological impairment, in the process becoming a leader in therapeutic programs that go beyond the narrow objectives of most primary rehab programs. It has offered a unique mix of conventional and complementary programs to allow children, adolescents and adults of varying abilities to dramatically improve their life and health with confidence. In response to an increased need Shake-A-Leg will expand its summer programs in 2007 to devote attention specifically to teens and young adults."
http://www.paralinks.net/shakealeg.html
SELF HELP
CSD Launches New Web Site - "CSD [Communication Services for the Deaf] launched a revamped corporate website in February with more use of videos in American Sign Language (ASL) in an effort to make the new site fully accessible to deaf and hard of hearing consumers with all language skills. News stories, press releases and announcements are now accompanied with videos in sign language to present additional viewing options for all website visitors. Taking into consideration the needs of its deaf-blind consumers, the CSD website was also made accessible by minimizing the use of moving pictures and flash objects with embedded text. The overall goal of making the new site friendly, easy to navigate and product-focused was reached after several months of collaborative work with all CSD divisions."
http://www.c-s-d.org/default.aspx?pageid=392
TECHNOLOGY
Canadian schools collaborate on more accessible interfaces - University of Toronto leads project for adaptive Web applications - by Briony Smith (itbusiness). "The University of Toronto landed a $2.5-million Andrew W. Mellon grant to augment its Fluid project, which is focused on developing a library of user interfaces that will allow the differently abled and people with unique cultural backgrounds or languages to navigate Web applications more easily. . . Web applications are the focus of the project, according to Treviranus, because adaptive considerations often get left out of emerging technologies, and retrofitting them tends not to work."
http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=43009
What is the FLUID Project? - "FLUID is an ambitious but critically important project to boost the user experience in academic community source projects and other web applications. It is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. FLUID is an international community of academic institutions, community source software projects and corporations working together to address the precarious values of usability, accessibility, internationalization, quality assurance and security within academic software projects. The FLUID project will create a user interface architecture that enables the creation and consistent use of modular, reusable, and swappable user interface components. The project will develop a living library of robust, usable, accessible UI components, which can be reused across applications, contributed to, and evolved by the community."
http://fluidproject.org/index.php/home
Domo, an Assistive Robot - "Developed at MIT, this robot is touted to adapt to people and places like no other robotic device: Edsinger [MIT postdoc -ed] describes Domo as the 'next generation' of earlier robots built at MIT--Kismet, which was designed to interact with humans, and Cog, which could learn to manipulate unknown objects. Domo incorporates elements of both of those robots. 'The real potential of robots in the future is going to be realized when they can do many types of manual tasks,' including those that require interaction with humans, Edsinger said. There are now plenty of robots doing manual work on factory assembly lines, but those machines follow a script and can't learn to adapt to new situations, as Domo can, said Rodney Brooks, director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory."
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2007/04/domo_an_assistive_robot.html
Global Alliance Bridges the Great Divide - by Kinley Levack. "The Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID), borne from the United Nations' Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Task Force, has some ambitious plans regarding accessibility. Kofi Annan, then-UN Secretary-General, announced the organization in April 2006 as a multi-stakeholder agency, with involvement from the private sector, governments, academia, and civil society, and GAID currently boasts Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel, as its chairman. GAID's initiatives cover a wide spectrum, but two are getting a great deal of attention: achieving better broadband penetration in Africa and developing technologies to help people with disabilities to access information."
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=35926
Israel's Audiodent invents hearing aid for the mouth - by Nicky Blackburn. "The idea that you can hear sounds from vibrations transmitted through your teeth is nothing new. Long before composer Beethoven held a wooden baton between his teeth and pressed it to his piano to listen to the notes, inventors have been experimenting with a variety of hearing aids devised from wooden boards held to the teeth. Imaginative though these were, up to now, there has never been a practical solution. Audiodent, a small Israeli start-up based in Omer, near Beersheva, is about to change all that. The company has developed an innovative new hearing aid that clips easily inside the mouth, using the teeth and jawbone to transmit sound to the brain."
http://www.deaftoday.com/v3/archives/2007/04/israels_audiode.html
Premier Assistive Makes Google Books Accessible to Individuals with Print-Related Disabilities - "Premier Assistive Technology's new breakthrough PDF Equalizer can read aloud the PDF Books scanned into Google Books. www.books.google.com. 'Google Books is a great concept for making books available to all individuals. However, when I downloaded a PDF file of the book from Google, I opened it up in Adobe 8 and tried to have it read aloud and Adobe returned a message saying 'page is blank.' This is the problem I have always had since I lost most of my sight,' says Dr. Steve Timmer. Dr. Timmer is not alone. According to the National Institute for Literacy (www.nifl.gov), nearly 42 million Americans struggle with literacy, and most are not blind. Increasingly, many publications are now created in PDF file format. Virtually all major publishers can deliver their books, magazines, etc. in a PDF format when asked to provide content in an alternative format (vs. traditional hardcopy). Additionally, major companies and institutions worldwide publish a wealth of documentation, research, policies and general communications using a PDF format."
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/4/emw520819.htm
CONFERENCES
(New Conferences)
CANADIAN
Vocational Outcomes in Traumatic Brain Injury - May 24-26, 2007 | Vancouver, British Columbia. "This second biennial international gathering focuses specifically on vocational outcomes in traumatic brain injury. Presentations will cover the range of impairment from mild to severe by a group of world renowned speakers."
http://www.tbicvancouver.com/
15th Annual David Berman Memorial Concurrent Disorders Conference - May 28-30, 2007 | Vancouver, British Columbia. "This conference is designed to provide clinicians/delegates with advanced training in concurrent disorders, including in-depth exploration of integrated treatment."
http://www.interprofessional.ubc.ca/15th_David_Berman.htm
2007 RehabNet Conference - June 14-15, 2007 | Toronto, Ontario. "In Canada, there has been an increased recognition of the importance of accountability in respect to quality of patient care and patient safety in the healthcare system. However, most of the attention has been on developing methods and standards for acute care facilities and very little has been published about patient safety initiatives in rehabilitation settings. Necessary risk-taking is another important consideration as one re-integrates into their environment with a new disability. This is particularly evident for children and adolescents with physical impairments as they grow into independent adults. The 2007 RehabNet Conference is a two-day event recognizing the unique challenges around patient safety and the ethical dimensions of balancing safety measures and necessary risk-taking in rehabilitation. In relation to this year's theme 'Achieving Patient Safety, Respecting Patients' Choices', the conference will provide an opportunity for clinicians, administrators, academics and policy makers to share experiences, research and best practices on the current trends and future directions of rehabilitation."
http://www.torontorehab.com/education/rehabnet/Conference.htm
Festival of International Conferences on Disability, Aging and Technology - June 16-19, 2007 | Toronto, Ontario. "The Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology (FICCDAT) will bring together five important and different conferences all focused on enhancing the lives of seniors, persons with disabilities and their family caregivers."
• Growing Older with a Disability
• The 2nd International Conference on Technology and Aging (ICTA)
• Advances in Neurorehabilitation
• Caregivers: Essential Partners in Care
• Improving Medical Device Usability (CMBES)"
http://www.ficdat.ca/
TRANSED 2007 - 11th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons - June 18-21, 2007 | Montreal, Quebec. "Canada is proud to host the 11th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons (TRANSED), to be held June 18-21, 2007, at the Palais des Congrès in Montréal under the theme 'Benchmarking, Evaluation and Vision for the Future'. The conference will review advances in research, evoke international break throughs and explore perspectives for technological innovations in order to respond to the mobility challenges of an aging population and of persons with disabilities, as part of an inclusive society."
http://www.tc.gc.ca/pol/en/Transed2007/home.htm
The 12th World Congress of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics - Moving Beyond Disability - July 29-August 3, 2007 | Vancouver, British Columbia. "Welcome to the web page for the ISPO 2007 World Congress. The ISPO World Congress is the premiere global event for multidisciplinary prosthetic and orthotic care. The ISPO Canada National Society is pleased to welcome you to Vancouver to enjoy the scientific sessions, workshops and symposia, expansive trade exhibits, and active social programs."
http://www.ispo.ca/congress/
Mobility Cup 2007 - August 28-September 1, 2007 | Halifax, Nova Scotia. - "An international regatta for people with significant physical disabilities will sail into Halifax in 2007. The Mobility Cup regatta is North America's flagship for sailors with physical disabilities. The event was first hosted in 1991 and has been growing ever since as it travelled across Canada - but this will be its first appearance in Atlantic Canada. Mobility Cup 2007 will be run by Sail Able Nova Scotia and hosted at the Dartmouth Yacht Club. It will run from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, to include one day's training and four of racing. Sailing will be on the Bedford Basin, a sheltered body of water two miles wide and five miles long - where the WWII Atlantic convoys would gather."
http://v1.dpi.org/lang-en/events/details?page=803
Open Forum on: "Supporting Human Diversity Through Inclusive Design – The Role of Standards" - September 13-14, 2007 | Toronto, Ontario. "The overall goal of the forum is to advance the inclusive design of emerging and future educational systems, by:
• identifying and addressing the challenges to inclusion,
• harnessing the potential benefits of emerging technologies and systems to address the needs of individuals with alternative access requirements,
• infusing inclusive design into the foundation architectures of emerging technologies so that inclusion will be a foundational characteristic of future developments, and by
• developing inclusive practices in computer mediated education that are innovative and sustainable;
. . . such that no one is excluded from optimizing their potential through learning."
http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/openforum.html
U.S.
Family Voices 2007 National Conference - May 23-26, 2007 | Washington, D.C. "Family Voices invites you to join veteran and emerging family/youth leaders from around the country focusing on children and youth with special health care needs. Gain new information about critical topics such as: Medicaid policy; health information technology; family-centered care; cultural competence to improve care and systems; quality assurance; Bright Futures/wellness; transition; evidence-based outcomes, and more."
www.familyvoices.org
Postsecondary Disability Training Institute - June 12-16, 2007 | Saratoga Springs, New York. "Sponsored by the University of Connecticut Center on Postsecondary Education and Disability. This Training Institute will assist concerned professionals to meet the unique needs of college students with disabilities. Participants can select from a variety of strands and single sessions taught by experts in the field. Attendees will have opportunities to share information and to network with each other at various activities throughout the week."
www.cped.uconn.edu/07pti.htm
RESNA 2007 - June 15-19, 2007 | Phoenix, Arizona. "RESNA 2007 will feature assistive technology's leading researchers, renowned clinicians and policy experts creating a conference program with unmatched levels of knowledge and expertise. RESNA presenters and attendees will experience a surprisingly intimate conference environment where:
• information is contemporary and innovative
• uncommon questions find in-depth answers
• sharing knowledge, ideas, and experiences is easy, and
• new connections last a lifetime.
RESNA 2007 will offer an exciting Exhibit Hall featuring product demonstrations and training sessions, two days of Pre-Conference Instructional Courses, and 3 full-days of Workshops, Interactive Poster Sessions, Themed Paper Sessions and distinguished speakers."
http://www.resna.org/Conference/Conference.php
Autreat 2007 - June 25-29, 2007 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Autreat is a retreat-style conference run by Autism Network International, for autistic people and our families, professionals, friends and supporters. We are accepting proposals for workshops to be presented at Autreat 2007, to be held Monday-Friday, June 25-29, 2007, in metropolitan Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."
http://v1.dpi.org/lang-en/events/details?page=841
American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC) 20th Biennial Convention - June 28-July 2, 2007 | St. Augustine, Florida. "The ASDC biennial conference gives parents the opportunity to attend educational workshops, discover resources, and to network. ASDC is a national nonprofit organization to empower parents of deaf and hard of hearing children through the highest quality services and programs."
www.deafchildren.org/convention.aspx
18th Annual APSE Conference, Employment for All - Show Me The Future - It 's Bigger Than You Think - July 16-18, 2007 | Kansas City, Missouri. "APSE: The Network on Employment is known for hosting the most informative and stimulating conferences on disability and employment in the country. It is the only national annual meeting that focuses exclusively on cutting edge employment practices for individuals with more challenging disabilities."
http://www.apse.org/documents/confbroFINAL.pdf
AHEAD conference 2007 - July 17-21, 2007 | Charlotte, North Carolina. "The annual international AHEAD conference brings together professionals in the fields of higher education and disability for a week of information-sharing, networking and theoretical and practical training."
http://www.ahead.org/training/conference/2007_conf/AHEAD_2007_Conference.htm
National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam - A 2007 STEM Leadership Academy - July 30-August 4, 2007 | Baltimore, Maryland. "The largest gathering of blind youth ever. This four-day academy will engage and inspire the next generation of blind youth to consider careers falsely believed to be impossible for blind people to enter. While staying at Johns Hopkins University, youth will be mentored by blind role models during fun, challenging, and inspiring activities meant to stretch the imagination, build confidence, and increase science literacy. Activities will take place with support from partners such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, and other institutions and corporations working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The NFB Youth Slam will culminate in an inspiring rally at Baltimore's Inner Harbor and a celebration at the center of innovation in the field of blindness—the NFB Jernigan Institute."
http://www.blindscience.org/ncbys/Youth_Slam.asp?SnID=1479761418
Pittsburgh Employment Conference for Augmented Communicators (PEC) - August 3-5, 2007 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "SHOUT, a 501( c )3 nonprofit corporation, has as its mission advocacy for employment of people who rely on augmentative communication. As part of its mission, SHOUT has hosted eight, three-day Pittsburgh Employment Conferences for Augmented Communicators (PEC@) in the past 10 years. With hundreds of attendees drawn from four continents, PEC@ is the only conference in the world focused on employment outcomes for people who use augmentative communication."
http://www.sciconics.com/shout/index.html
Job Accommodation Network Conference 2007 - Empowering Employers to Build an Inclusive Workforce - August 6-7, 2007 | Arlington, Virginia. "Acquire knowledge and skills to accommodate employees with disabilities, comply with the ADA, and develop innovative employment practices. JAN staff and other experts will answer questions such as:
• How does an employer recruit, hire, retain, promote, and accommodate employees with disabilities?
• What strategies have employers implemented to facilitate successful and cost-effective accommodations?
• What do laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) say about employing individuals with disabilities?"
http://conference.jan.wvu.edu/
2007 Southwest Conference - October 3-5, 2007 | Albuquerque, New Mexico. "The 2007 Southwest Conference on Disability will be held October 3-5, 2007 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Conference organizers are excited to announce that the 2007 conference will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Association on State Units on Aging."
http://cdd.unm.edu/swconf/
Ninth International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility - October 14-17, 2007 | Tempe, Arizona. "This year, the ASSETS conference will host the second annual SIGACCESS student research competition (sponsored by Microsoft Research). This is an exciting opportunity for students to participate in an ACM conference and get visibility for their research. Students wishing to participate submit abstracts of their work, and up to 25 entrants will be selected for the competition. Qualifying research must deal with issues related to computing and information technology to help persons with disabilities. Selected students will receive partial support from ACM to attend the conference. At the conference, entrants will display a poster and make a brief presentation to a panel of judges. A small number of semifinalists will be chosen by the judges to present their work in a conference session, and of those up to three undergraduate and three graduate students will be designated finalists by the judges, and entered in the Grand Finals of ACM's Student Research Competition."
http://www.acm.org/sigaccess/assets07/
OVERSEAS
14th Deafblind International (Dbl) World Conference - September 25-30, 2007 | Perth, Australia. "The 14th Deafblind International World Conference will be held in Perth at the Burswood Entertainment Complex, from Tuesday 25th to Sunday 30th September 2007 inclusive. Exciting international and national speakers will form part of the Conference program based around the Conference theme. An estimated 1000 delegates will attend the Conference from the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe and from Asia and the countries of the Pacific. Registrants will be
• International, national and local health and disability professionals and service providers;
• World recognised experts in deafblindness;
• Representatives from the international blind and deafblind communities."
http://www.dbiconference2007.asn.au/
19th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics - July 5-9, 2009 | Paris, France. "Every four years, the World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics represents a unique and irreplaceable event attended by experts from around the world to discuss the latest findings in the field of ageing. The 19th congress, which is taking place in Paris in 2009, is particularly important, as it coincides with an ideological u-turn. Lifespan extension and the
growing number of elderly people, once considered as catastrophic, are now viewed as an indisputable progress."
http://www.gerontologyparis2009.com/site/view8.php