What the rehabilitation professional and the consumer need to know.
Many people with disabilities from early in life (eg, cerebral palsy,spinal cord injury, and polio) are beginning to live into middle and late life. Recent evidence indicates that these individuals often do not age in a typical manner. A large proportion of these people develop new medical, functional, and support problems by the time they reach their late 40s and early 50s. This article reviews many of those changes and points to some ways to help intervene. Changes in rehabilitation education and programs need to begin to incorporate these recent findings.
Kemp
Bryan J
BJ
Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with a Disability, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, CA 90242, USA. bkemp@uci.edu
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation