Advocacy action alert: Resolutions 99 and 11 on Universal Health Care and Integrated Lifestyle Improvement Plans for individuals with disabilities. (Legislative Update).

Congress is beginning to realize the value of physical activity, especially for people with disabilities. Two resolutions ate being circulated throughout Congress having the intent of developing public policy regarding health promotion for people with disabilities. HR. Concurrent Resolution 99 (Universal Health Coverage by 2004) and S. Concurrent Resolution 11 (Integrate Lifestyle Improvement Programs) have been initiated in the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively. In this Legislative Update, these two resolutions ate discussed and how readers can become involved in helping to move these two public policy issues into the forefront of attention and potentially through the legislative process.

Value of Physical Activity

Since the mid-1990s, several federal documents have reiterated the need for regular, moderate exercise for all people, and especially those with disabilities (Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity, 1996; Healthy People 2010, 2001). Regular physical activity can manage and prevent chronic disorders such as heart disease, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, and other conditions. In fact, participation in leisure physical activity is a major goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physical activity also prevents disability and secondary disabling conditions from occurring. Regular physical activity does not need to be strenuous; performing regular activities around the home can result in increased health and reduction of secondary health problems.

Defining Disability

A disability can be defined as a physical or mental impairment that results in significant limitations of a major life activity. This can include occupational skills, daily living tasks, and/or reductions in the ability to participate in leisure pursuits. Over 80% of disability is acquired as a result of diminished health status. Conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cardiovascular impairments, etc., exacerbate pre-existing conditions and can be a result of limited physical activity. Once a disability is acquired, the typical trend is for continued diminished health as activity levels continue to be reduced. Without appropriate behavioral lifestyle changes, conditions can be exacerbated, resulting in further secondary health conditions.

Two Congressional Resolutions

Collectively, the intent of those two resolutions is to--

a) aid in ameliorating disabling conditions and prevent further disability through encouragement of a physically active lifestyle;

b) incorporate lifestyle improvements and increased leisure physical activity into national policy to reduce disabling conditions and prevent diminished health states leading to disability; and

c) increase health services to those who are of poor health, so the incidence of disabilities and the increase of people with disabilities acquiring secondary disabling conditions can be reduced.

Congressional resolutions are neither bills nor laws, but can be used to guide the development of public policy into eventual bills and laws. Resolutions are statements and beliefs made by legislators about public policy concerns. These two resolutions are used in making arguments in federal, state, and local forums for the value of physical activity on health. Resolutions can also be used to assist in guiding the development programs at state and local levels.

S. Concurrent Resolution 11

Senate Resolution 11 focuses upon integrating lifestyle improvement programs into national policy. At the time of this writing, Senate Resolution 11 is sponsored by Senator Feinstein (CA) and co-sponsored by Craig (ID), Bingaman (NM), Crapo (ID), Lugar (IN), Warner (VA), Dorgan (ND), Murray (WA), Biden (DE), Inhofe (OK), Ensign (NV), Fiengold (WI), and Levin (MI). It is a bipartisan resolution that is good for the future of eventual public policy statements. Rationale for this resolution appears to be the fact that modifiable lifestyles can improve health, quality of life, enhance workplace productivity, prevent chronic disorders and disability, and can reduce need for supplemental health care services. These Senators appear committed to this end, and your job is to recruit more Senators to sign on as co-sponsors of this resolution. While this resolution is fluid with respect to co-sponsors, whether or not your Senator is identified as a co-sponsor, you should either draft a letter thanking her/him for co-sponsoring this important Congressional Resolution or urge her/him to sign on for reasons identified herein. You might want to include the fact that sedentary lifestyles contribute to obesity, accounting for 50% of premature deaths, and that spending on chronic diseases associated with behavioral lifestyles, which include physical activity, accounts for an estimated 70% of total health care spending.

HR. Concurrent Resolution 99

The House of Representatives Resolution 99 calls for universal heath care which is affordable and cost efficient. Behavioral lifestyle changes, like more physical activity, are examples of affordable and cost efficient health care. This type of health care initiative will promote prevention of disability through health promotion and wellness lifestyle changes. Likewise, this type of affordable and cost efficient health care program addresses needs of people with special health care conditions. One can see the interrelationship between S. Resolution 11 and HR. Resolution 99.

A Call for Research with Public Policy Integration

Over the past decade or so, basic and applied research programs investigating health promotion-physical activity concepts as outlined in these two Congressional resolutions and previously sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), the Recreation Services Administration (RSA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have all but vanished. Adapted physical education and recreation therapy specialists who have an interest in pursuing research programs that would investigate the efficacy of physical activity programs on the reduction of disability and/or secondary conditions should submit proposals to these organizations. The need for legislators is to see a grass roots effort at the community level to address these needs, increasing opportunities for people with disabilities to access and participate in regular programs of physical education and recreation.

Action Plan

There is a support system that was developed to help grass roots individuals with this activity. The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) is an exemplary organization promoting these resolutions in public policy forums at the Federal level. Erica Hamilton, Chairperson of the Consortium, is committed to furthering these initiatives, but there is a need for more sponsors for these resolutions. Let's first focus on the Senate Resolution (11). Either thank your Senators for co-sponsoring the resolution or urge them to sign onto this no-lose concept. Use these resolutions as arguments to assure that the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) incorporates these themes. If you belong to other professional organizations, urge them to become involved in this simple task.

These resolutions have already been adopted by the Research Institute for Independent Living and your coalition. We need continued support from the professional staff and personnel in higher education. The Senate Resolution, however, is truly a community grass roots level advocacy issue in which each of you can make a significant impact on the number of co-sponsors. It may be that the bottom line is that children with disabilities are without appropriate health care and that adapted physical education and therapeutic recreation programs may be essential for lifelong learning and health.

Legislative Update is a regular feature of PALAESTRA, providing the reader with updates and analyses of current federal and state legislative activities relative to public policy development of interest to professionals and others interested in adapted physical activity. Robert W. Arnhold, Physical Education Department, Slippery Rock State University, Slippery Rock, PA 16057; [phone]; [e-mail]; and David A. Auxter, Legislative Chairperson of the National Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities, 35 E. St. NW, Apt. 607, Washington, DC 20001-1518; [phone]; dauxter@bellatlantic. net; are Department Editors. Co-author for this Legislative Update is Erica Hamilton, chair of the sub-committee on physical activities of the Prevention Task Force of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (an umbrella group of approximately 10 organizations in the Washington, DC, area that advocates for persons with disabilities. She is in the legislative department of the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) of which the National Therapeutic Recreation Society (NTRS) is a subsidiary.