About Us
The Oregon Office on Disability and Health is a public health program under the Institute on Development and Disability at Oregon Health and Science University. Oregon Office on Disability and Health has been funded since 1994 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a Disability and Health State Program. We receive additional funding through grants and contracts from other national and state partners that help us fulfill our mission.
Our mission is to promote health equity and well-being of people with disabilities. We collaborate with disability communities, public health entities, healthcare systems, and community-based organizations to prioritize access and equity throughout Oregon.
We envision a future that is accessible, welcoming, and inclusive of all people with disabilities in Oregon. This vision extends beyond the individuals and their families to benefit entire communities.
Our work is guided by the following values:
Health equity means that people with disabilities have what they need to be as healthy as they can be.
Many things, like poverty and ableism,* affect health problems for people with disabilities. Some people have access to resources and others do not. OODH supports fair access to resources so that everyone can have health equity.
*Ableism is a type of discrimination against people with disabilities. Ableism defines people with disabilities by their disabilities and says that people who have disabilities are not as important as people who do not have disabilities. Our work fights for people with disabilities and for basic rights for all.
People with disabilities do not always have the same access or chances as people without disabilities. We work to change attitudes and policies for better access and inclusion for people with disabilities.
This value is related to the social model of disability. Read more about the social model of disability.
Disability is a natural part of human life. The disability community is diverse. Different identities, like gender, race, and sexual orientation, overlap with disability. We work to make sure that all people with disabilities are valued and included in society.
We work to create a society without racism and that fully includes all people.
We work to fight racism in ourselves and our community.
*More information on how racism and ableism are connected
*Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, Asian, and other people of color make important change through disability justice work. This article is an example.
We work as partners with the people we serve in Oregon. We work with our community, our Advisory Council, and organizations to meet the needs of people with disabilities. We believe nothing about us without us.*
*Nothing about us without us is a disability rights movement that we support. People with disabilities know what is best for them. We want people with disabilities to be at the center of what we do.
We listen, reflect, and act. We want to learn and grow. We ask for your feedback to help us improve.
You can contact us if you have anything to add.
OODH is committed to anti-racism, equity, and partnership with community members. The social model of disability is central to our work. With help from the OODH Advisory Council, we summed up these ideals in a statement of values. It was made public in 2020.
In 2022, we set out to make the statement easier to read and understand. As a first step, OODH staff re-wrote the statement to meet plain language guidelines. The meaning behind our stated values did not change. The OODH Advisory Council reviewed the changes and suggested edits. People with intellectual disabilities in the community also read the statement and made comments about clarity. OODH staff reviewed all feedback and made final edits. The revised statement was published on our website in June 2023.
Overview of 2021-2026 Funding Cycle
Current OODH Activities
Current target areas of the Oregon Office on Disability and Health include:
- Establish, expand, and enhance partnerships
- Conduct statewide needs assessments
- Administer and evaluate a training for health care providers on accessible preventive health care
- Implement and evaluate a demonstration project to link adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to needed health care and health promotion programs
- Conduct evidence-based health promotion interventions for adults with disabilities
- Collaborate with partners to implement policy, systems, and environmental changes to improve access to health care and health promotion opportunities
- Share key findings and lessons learned with public health professionals and policymakers statewide
Funding
Since 1994, Oregon Office on Disability and Health has been continuously funded as a Cooperative Agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a Disability and Health State Program.
We also receive funding from grants and contracts from various other partners. Currently, we receive funding from the Oregon Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS); National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability; and Comagine Health.