'More Than Ramps' aids with disabilities

BOSTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Nearly 20 percent of U.S. adults -- and 42 percent of those over age 65 -- live with a disability, but getting proper treatment is possible, a book says.

"More Than Ramps: A Guide to Improving Health Care Quality and Access for People with Disabilities" by Dr. Lisa I. Iezzoni, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Bonnie L. O'Day, research associate at Cornell University's Institute for Policy Research in Washington, focuses on adults who are blind, deaf, hard of hearing or have difficulties using their legs, arms or hands.

"Ensuring that people with disabilities have easy access to high-quality healthcare will involve more than simply building ramps," said O'Day, who herself has poor vision and performs her job with computer software that translates printed text into synthesized speech. "The results will benefit virtually everyone at some point in their lives."

The book offers a multitude of strategies to circumvent the barriers, such as asking people with disabilities about workable solutions and applying universal design principles more widely.