The Construction of Disability & Health:

The Role of Spaces & PlacesAPHA Disability Section Chair’s Forum 2013

Disabling Spaces of Home

Lillie Greiman & Andrew Myers

“As a space of belonging and alienation, intimacy and violence, desire and fear, the home is invested with meanings, emotions, experiences and relationships that lie at the heart of human existence.” ~Blunt (2005)

• The places in which we live tell stories about who we are and what we value

• The design of homes reflect social norms about what bodies can and should do

• Homes are intimate spaces invested with social, spatial, and psychological meaning

Home, Space & Identity

Disembodied Space

“People with disabilities often experience the home as a series of ‘disembodied spaces’, or places that are designed in ways that are rarely attentive to their physiological and bodily needs” ~Imrie (2004)

2011 American Housing Survey Households with individuals 18-75yrs

Uses any mobility device:

• 60% of households have a step at the entrance of their home

• 49% of households with individuals who have difficulty getting into the tub do not have grab bars

Uses a manual wheelchair:

• 47% of households have steps

• 32% have an individual who has difficulty using cabinets

• 23% have an individual who has difficulty using stove

• 24% have an individual who has difficulty using the sink

For Your Consideration

• How are cultural values communicated through and within the home?

• What are the health implications of “disembodied homes”?

Healthy Housing Meg Traci

Healthy Housing: A Resource for Resilience Control › Autonomy › Self-determination

Social Support › Emotional and instrumental support

Secure Base › Access resource-rich environments

Retreat › Reprieve from outside stress/hassles

Sound Shelter = Protection from the elements

Clean + Contaminant-Free + Dry +Maintained

+ Pest-Free + Safe+ Ventilated

(NCHH’s 7 Healthy Home Principles)

Montana BRFSS 2011

• Visitable home prevalence in subpopulations with:

1) With walking difficulty and

2) Use Special Equipment

• Health differences