National Center on Physical Activity and Disability
About the Organization:
The National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) is operated by the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago and works in partnership with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) and the National Center on Accessibility (NCA) at Indiana University. The University of Illinois at Chicago is solely responsible for all information on this site. Funding for the Center is provided through a grant from the Disability and Health Branch of the Division of Birth Defects, Child Development and Disability and Health in the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
At NCPAD we believe that exercise is for every body, and everyone can reap benefits from regular physical activity. Having a disability does not mean you cannot be healthy! For an excellent discussion of this view, please read our monograph Can disability, chronic conditions, health and wellness coexist?. Our goal is to encourage and support people with disabilities who wish to increase their overall level of activity and participate in some form of regular physical activity. The Surgeon General of the United States has reported that regular physical activity is an important part of healthy lifestyles. Toward that end, we offer a variety of resources to help people with disabilities become more active. We also offer resources for fitness and exercise professionals, health professionals, and researchers who share our interest in promoting increased physical activity for people with disabilities.
Contact Info:
Resources on Aging and Physical Activity:
The Active Aging Toolkit: Promoting Physical Activity in Older Adults for Healthcare Providers
The Active Aging Toolkit has been developed as a collaborate effort of the Blueprint, professional organizations, and private industry as an evidence-based and an easy-to-instruct program for healthcare providers to educate their patients on increasing phjysical activity.
Making Fitness Centers Accessible and Disability and Aging Friendly
A resource to help fitness instructors become more conscious of how to make their facilities accessible.