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Flu Vaccine and Individuals with ID/DD
Jan 24th, 2013 by | No Comments YetA nationwide flu outbreak has already caused alarm across the country. Public health organizations have mobilized to spread the word about the virus and encourage everyone to get vaccinated. Many cities across the US have declared a Public Health emergency, urging residents to take flu prevention seriously, and to stay home if feeling sick.
The ramp up of the campaign to encourage vaccination made us curious about what NCI data says about the flu vaccine. Of the ID/DD population receiving public services, who has been vaccinated in the past year? Who hasn’t? Are there trends? It is important to remember that this is 2011-2012 data, collected before the current flu outbreak. Vaccination rates may have increased recently in light of the epidemic.
For this assessment of the data, we used preliminary data from the 2011-2012 administration of the Adult Consumer Survey (CS). The CS is given to adults (aged 18 and above) with ID/DD.
Of those who responded to the NCI question on the flu vaccine in the background section (“During the past 12 months, has this person had a flu vaccine?” N= 8385) 78.1% had received a flu vaccine in the past year. According to the CDC, among adults aged 18 and above, the national vaccination rate was 38.8%. The CDC data demonstrates whether the respondent received a flu vaccine between August 2011 and May 2012. (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/coverage_1112estimates.htm).
Perhaps not surprising is the relationship between residence type and flu vaccine. Clearly, it is in the best interest of individuals living in group living environments to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks of the flu. Noteworthy, however, is the lower rate of vaccination experienced by individuals living with parents or relatives.
Residence Type
Total
Institutional
Community based
Independent home
Parent/relative’s home
Foster care/host home
Other
Flu vacc. in past 12 mos.
YES
96.3%
88.3%
72.0%
60.4%
77.3%
82.6%
78.1%
Total N
491
3586
1038
2301
510
459
8385
Also interesting is the relationship between flu vaccine and age. Of those respondents between the ages of 18 and 49, 71.4% had been vaccinated for the flu within the past 12 months. Similarly, 86.6% of respondents between the ages of 50 and 64 had been vaccinated, and a 92.2% of respondents aged 65 and above. Also included in this table are the national data from the Center for Disease Control. Again, this data demonstrates whether the respondent received a flu vaccine between August 2011 and May 2012. For individuals aged 18-49, the flu vaccination rate for individuals with ID/DD is roughly 2.5 times that of the general population. The rate for individuals aged 50-64 with ID/DD is roughly twice that of the general population. The rate for individuals with ID/DD aged 65 and above is also noteworthy.
Flu vacc. in past 12 mos.
Age Categories
18-49
50-64
65<
NCI Data
71.4%
86.6%
92.2%
CDC Data*
28.6%
42.7%
64.9%
*(http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/coverage_1112estimates.htm ). Also, this data demonstrates whether the respondent received a flu vaccine between August 2011 and May 2012
We’d love to hear your response to this data.
Please note: The 2011-12 data reports will be released and placed on the NCI website this Spring. For more in depth analysis of previous year’s NCI consumer survey data, please see http://www.nationalcoreindicators.org.
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Financial Well-Being of Single Parents of Children with ID/DD
Nov 27th, 2012 by | No Comments YetIn a recent edition of the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Parish, et al. wrote about the financial status of single mothers with children with developmental disabilities (Parish, et al., 2012). This article prompted us to take a look at our data and see what they showed about the financial situations of single parents of children with ID/DD.
We looked at the preliminary results from the NCI survey administration in 2011-2012. We examined the data from the Child Family Survey (CFS), which looks at families with children under the age of 22 with ID/DD living in the home. Most families surveyed for the CFS are receiving Medicare. We then filtered the results so that the data represented only those respondents who were the only parent living in the household (we do not ask the respondent’s gender, so we could not at this time assess whether the respondent was a mother or a father).
The sample size of single parents from the CFS was 205. Table 1 demonstrates the household income of these respondents.
Table 1: Household income of single parents of children with ID/DD
Household Income
Percent
Below $15,000
60.5%
$15,001-$25,000
16.1%
$25,001-$50,000
15.6%
$50,001-$75,000
6.3%
Above $75,000
1.5%
Total (N=205)
100%
As is evident from Table 1, almost 61% of single parent respondents have a household income of less than $15,000 a year. Although shocking, this is not surprising as studies have shown that children with ID/DD often require lifelong care, therefore limiting a parent’s employment opportunities. In addition, families with children with ID/DD often face elevated costs of disability-related care (Parish & Cloud, 2006; Emerson, 2004; Parish, et al., 2004).
Again looking at the single parent respondents to the CFS, we then examined the out-of-pocket expenses. It was very interesting to look at out-of-pocket expenses by household income (Table 2).
Table 2: Out-of-pocket expenses by household income: Single parents of children with ID/DD
Household Income Below $15,000 $15,001-$25,000 $25,001-$50,000 $50,001-$75,000 Above $75,000 Total Out-of-pocket expenses $0 41.1% 24.2% 9.7% 7.7% 0.0% 30.9% $1-$100 22.6% 18.2% 19.4% 7.7% 0.0% 20.1% $101-$1000 24.2% 48.5% 32.3% 46.2% 33.3% 30.9% $1001-$10,000 9.7% 9.1% 35.5% 38.5% 66.7% 16.2% Above $10,000 2.4% 0.0% 3.2% 0.0% 0.0% 2.0% Total (N=205) 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
As can be seen in Table 2, almost 25% of single parents making below $15,000 per year spend $101-$1000 on out-of-pocket expenses related to their child with ID/DD. Also, almost 10% of single parents making below $15,000 per year spend between $1001 and $10,000 on out-of-pocket expenses related to their child with ID/DD.As is evident from these data, the financial situation of single parents of children with ID/DD is disheartening. State directors and policy makers can use this data to develop more targeted measures to address the financial well-being of single parents.
Bibliography:
Emerson, E. (2004) Poverty and children with intellectual disabilities in the world’s richer countries. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 29, 319-338
Parish, S., Seltzer, M., Greenberg, J. & Floyd, F. (2004). Economic implications of caregiving at midlife: Comparing parents with and without children who have developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation, 42(6), 413-426
Parish, S., & Cloud, J. (2006). Financial well-being of young children with disabilities. Social Work, 51 223-323
Parish, S., Rose, R., Swaine, J., Dababnah, S., Mayra, E. (2012) Financial well-being of single, working-age mothers of children with developmental disabilities. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: 117(5): 400-412. Retrieved from http://www.aaiddjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1352/1944-7558-117.5.400
Please note: The 2011-12 data reports will be released and placed on the NCI website this Spring. For more in depth analysis of previous year’s NCI consumer survey data, please see http://www.nationalcoreindicators.org.
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Impact of age on relationships and community participation
Nov 23rd, 2012 by | No Comments YetAlthough many of the later life social concerns of older individuals with ID/DD may be similar to those of the overall ID/DD population, older individuals with ID/DD do have distinct and specialized needs. Aging individuals with ID/DD may face additional exclusion from the community and from their friends and families.
There is a lack of information about the social experience of aging individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). NCI data can be used to begin to address this dearth of data and provide insight into the social challenges faced by aging individuals with ID/DD.
The following data comes from the 2009-10 National Core Indicators (NCI) Adult Consumer Survey. Approximately 7% of the total sample (833 people) were age 65 and older.
As seen in Table 1 below, NCI data show that older adults with ID/DD were consistently less likely to take part in integrated community-based activities such going shopping, out for entertainment, or out to eat. In almost all of the community participation variables (excluding “Went to religious services in past month,”) the difference in percents between the ‘under 65 years’ cohort and the ‘65 years and older’ cohort are statistically significant. This means that the differences reflect a pattern and are not due to pure chance.
Table 1. Community participation
Under 65 yrs
65 yrs and older
Went shopping in past month *
85%
78%
Went on errands in past month *
81%
77%
Went out for entertainment in past month *
74%
66%
Went out to eat in past month *
80%
74%
Went to religious services in past month
51%
47%
Went out for exercise/sports in past month *
49%
36%
Went on vacation in past year *
42%
33%
* signifies statistically significant differences at α = 0.01; ** signifies statistically significant differences at α = 0.05;
Additionally, NCI data show that individuals 65 and older were less likely to report having friends (68%), and less likely to be able to see their families when they wanted to (69%) than were younger individuals (74%, and 81%, respectively).
NCI data suggest that older adults with ID/DD were less likely to participate in community life or to have friends or be able to see family than younger individuals with ID/DD. This data can be used by states to reinforce the need to assist older adults with ID/DD to participate in community life. In addition this data can be used to encourage the education of support workers to help people stay active and connected to community and social networks.