News and Press Releases

PWDF Asks American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Dental Association to Create Task Force to Address Inequalities in Health Care Access

San Francisco, California – December 23, 2013 – In our fall e-newsletter, we noted that persons with severe mental illness have a 13-25 year shorter life expectancy than that of the general population. Disparities in health care access and provision of health care services have been shown to be contributing factors to the shortened life span of people with mental disabilities.

As a result, PWDF has asked the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Dental Association to join us in creating a task force to design protocols and procedures that address health care inequalities in treating people with psychiatric, intellectual, and/or developmental disabilities, with the goal of eliminating the health care disparities that affect such individuals.

See here for our letter: PWDF letter to AMA_12-11-13_ab.sb

PWDF provides services for people with psychiatric and/or developmental disabilities through advocacy, education and public awareness.

Contact:

April Banerjee
Program Manager for Public Awareness and Education
People With Disabilities Foundation
507 Polk St., Ste. 430
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel (415) 931-3070
Fax (415) 931-2828
abanerjee@pwdf.org
www.pwdf.org

 

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