PUBH 5503
Disability Law, Policy, Ethics, and Advocacy
Public Health Certificate in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Program (PHCIDS)
Syllabus – 2016 Summer Session II
Excluding materials for purchase, syllabus information may be subject to change. The most up-to-date syllabus is located within the course in HuskyCT.
Program Information
Overview of the Program
The Public Health Certificate in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Program (PHCIDS) is a 12-credit graduate level course of studies offered online. PHCIDS is administered through the UConn School of Medicine Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, in partnership with the UConn A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD).
Disability is a significant public health concern that has become a national health and social justice priority. Persons living with disabilities can rightfully be viewed as an underserved minority population. The purpose of the PHCIDS is to address these disparities and injustices by building students’ knowledge and competencies in multiple aspects of health, society, and the environment as related to disability, so that students will be better able, in their existing and future professional lives, to make a positive impact on the health and well-being of this at-risk population.
The PHCIDS reflects UConn’s values and commitment to providing the best education possible to enable students and health and human services professionals to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families. We value self-determination and advocacy for people with disabilities, and we are committed to community inclusion, independence, and the recognition of each person’s ability to contribute to society.
The goals of the PHCIDS are: Students will learn to apply fundamental principles of disability practices, public health, and social sciences to define health and social problems, establish associations and causes, recommend evidence-based interventions, and implement effective responses to disability issues and concerns; develop life-long state-of-the-art learning skills that incorporate cultural diversity and competence; be prepared to disseminate research and data that informs and promotes the independence, productivity, accommodation, integration and inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families; gain knowledge and skills that prepare them to serve in a broad range of professional, social, and community roles, including advocacy, systems change, and research that support persons living with disabilities.
PHCIDS is an interdisciplinary set of courses that examines the multiple aspects of public health, health care, society, culture, politics, economics, history, legislation, education and social attitudes that impact people living with disabilities. The four 3-credit courses that comprise the PHCIDS are:
· Foundations of Public Health and Disability
· Epidemiology of Disability
· Disability Law, Policy, Ethics, and Advocacy
· Public Health Interventions in Disability
The PHCIDS is designed to be a freestanding course of studies whose primary targeted audience is individuals in the professional and paraprofessional workforce in: medicine, nursing, social work, law, education, psychology, political science, and other fields related to public health and disability who are in a position to help ensure health and social equity for all persons with disabilities and their families.
As such, PHCIDS is inclusive of a mix of students from a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, programs and cultures that reflect the diversity of the community. Successful achievement of the Public Health Certificate in Disability Studies signifies the centrality of disability within the individual student’s academic or professional field. A professional portfolio is an important outcome of the PHCIDS. Students will be able to build a scholarly professional portfolio in disability studies by the conclusion of the program. The final portfolio will be comprised of a collection of scholarly products generated through and dependent on the individual requirements and expectations integrated into each course.
PHCIDS teaching faculty reflect the cultural diversity of the community and a range of learning experiences, backgrounds and specialties, as well, and include individuals with disabilities and their family members.
The PHCIDS courses are open to students matriculated in the program. A limited number of others interested in enrolling in the courses may do so with permission of the instructor.
The goal of PUBH 5503 Disability Law, Policy, Ethics, and Advocacy is to provide a legal, conceptual, and practical understanding of people with disabilities, forms of discrimination that occur on the basis of disability, and the protections against such discrimination that currently exist. The course provides an opportunity to evaluate and understand many aspects of public policy and social issues that affect the lives of persons with disabilities and their families, including state, regional, national and international forces and trends, the principles of self-determination, and participation of persons with disability in planning and implementing. Among the topics to be discussed include federal and state laws and policies specific to: the health and well-being of people with disabilities; discrimination against people with disabilities; domestic, international, and comparative disability law and policy; the rights of children with disabilities in school, specifically through the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA); and recent developments in U.S. and international human rights and comparative disability law, including recent efforts by the United Nations to draft a treaty on the rights of people with disabilities. Students will explore the role of people with disabilities within different legal systems, who are often vulnerable to human rights violations.
Course and Instructor Information
Course Title: Disability, Law, Policy, Ethics, and Advocacy
Credits: 3
Format: online
Prerequisites: None
Professor: Nicholas Gelbar, PhD
Email:
Telephone: 860-679-1541
Office Hours/Availability: Please email me and I will respond to you as soon as possible.
Course Materials
Required course materials should be obtained before the first day of class.
There is no required text for this course. Links are provided to many materials that are accessible through the internet. Other journal articles may be accessed through Library Resources.
Additional course readings and media are available within HuskyCT, through either an Internet link or Library Resources
Course Description
The goal of PUBH 5503 Disability Law, Policy, Ethics, and Advocacy is to provide a legal, conceptual, and practical understanding of people with disabilities, forms of discrimination that occur on the basis of disability, and the protections against such discrimination that currently exist. The course provides an opportunity to evaluate and understand many aspects of public policy and social issues that affect the lives of persons with disabilities and their families, including state, regional, national and international forces and trends, the principles of self-determination, and participation of persons with disability in planning and implementing. Among the topics to be discussed include federal and state laws and policies specific to: the health and well-being of people with disabilities; discrimination against people with disabilities; domestic, international, and comparative disability law and policy; the rights of children with disabilities in school, specifically through the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA); and recent developments in U.S. and international human rights and comparative disability law, including recent efforts by the United Nations to draft a treaty on the rights of people with disabilities. Students will explore the role of people with disabilities within different legal systems, who are often vulnerable to human rights violations.
Course Objectives
By the end of the semester, students should be able to:
1. Explain how concepts of disability affect health laws, regulations, and policy.
2. Describe policy and legislative processes for improving the health status of people with disabilities.
3. Describe the impact of historical approaches to disability law and policy relative to people with disabilities.
4. Describe the role of history, social organization and structured inequality in the production of health inequities.
5. Identify the ethical, social and legal issues rated to disabilities.
6. Explain how professional ethics and practices relate to equity and accountability in diverse community settings.
7. Apply concepts of disability from an integral perspective to inform public health laws, policies, and regulations.
Course Outline (and Calendar if Applicable)
Week 1: July 11, 2016 – July 15, 2016
Module 1: Introduction to Law, Disability Law, Policy, and Ethics
Module 1 Topics:
1: Historical Framework of Disability Law and Policy
2: Orientation to Case Law, Policy, Ethics, and Disability Law
3: Law from the public health perspective: The Affordable Care Act and health reform
Required Readings:
· Bickenbach, J.E. (2012). Introduction, Background and History; and Current Issues, Controversies, and Solutions. In: Bickenbach, J.E., Ethics, Law, and Policy. Washington,DC: SAGE Publications, Inc. SAGE Reference Series on Disabilities, 1-65; 67-136.
· Minow, M. (1990). Making all the difference: Inclusion, exclusion, and American law. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 19-40, 74-78, 101-172.
· Blanck, P., Hill, E., Siegal, C. D., & Waterstone, M. (Eds.). (2006). Introduction and Historical and Conceptual Foundations, In: Blanck, P., Hill, E., Siegal, C. D., & Waterstone, M. (Eds.). Disability civil rights law and policy. St. Paul, MN: West. 1-41.
· Kanter, A.S. (2013). The Relationship between Disability Studies and Law. In Kanter, A.S. & Ferri, B. A.(Eds), Righting Educational Wrongs: Disability Studies in Law and Education, Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Critical Perspectives on Disability Series,1-37.
Week 2: July 18, 2016 – July 22, 2016
Module 2: Federal Disability Law
Module 2 Topics:
1: Part I – Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), The Rehabilitation Act (Section 504 Actions), Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act)
2: Part II – Individuals with disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Telecommunications Act, Architectural Barriers Act
3: Part III – Review of selected U.S. Supreme Court Decisions interpreting the ADA
Required Readings:
o Silverstein, R.(2000) “Emerging Disability Policy Framework: A Guidepost for Analyzing Public Policy,” Center for the Study and Advancement of Disability Policy, 85 Iowa Law Review 1691-1806 (Browse all of it but please read p.1695-1708; 1712-1715; and 1718-1733)
o Turnbull, H.R., Beegle, G., & Stowe, M.J. (2001). The core concepts of disability policy affecting families who have children with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 12(3), 133-143.
o Bagenstos, S.R. (2009). Defining Disability; and The Limits of the Antidiscrimination Model. In: Bagenstos, S.R., Law and the contradictions of the disability rights movement. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 34-54,116-130.
o Heaphy, D.G. (2011). Section 504 the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act in Public Health Education. In: Lollar, D.J. & Andresen, E.M. (Eds). Public Health Perspectives on Disability; Epidemiology to Ethics and Beyond. New York, NY: Springer. 227-253.
o ADA Anniversary Toolkit – ADA National Network. Available at:
o The ADA National Network Disability Law Handbook; available at:
o The following link will take you to a disability law index which has links to a series of cases on ADA issues: Disability Law Index
o Blanck, P.D. & Olson, W. (1999). The unintended consequences of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Washington Business Group on Health 13th Annual National Disability Management Conference, 85 Iowa Law Review 1811.
o Moss, K. & Burris, S. (2007). The employment discrimination provisions of the American with Disabilities Act: Implementation and impact. In: Field, M.J. & Jette, A.M. (Eds). The Future of Disability in America, Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Disabilities in America, Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US), 453-477.
o Supreme Court Argument: Tennessee v. Lane (2004), 541 US 509
o Albertson's Inc. v. Kirkingburg, 527 U.S. 555, 119 S. Ct. 2162 (1999) Murphy v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 527 U.S. 516, 119 S. Ct. 2133 (1999).
o Sutton v. United Airlines, 527 U.S. 471, 119 S. Ct. 2139 (1999)
o Toyota Motor Mfg. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184, 122 S. Ct. 681 (2002)
o The Job Accommodation Network – ADA Amendments Act of 2008. Interprets the purpose and specific changes made by the ADAAA and evaluates how the regulations promulgated under the ADAAA will be implemented.
Week 3: July 25, 2015 – July 29, 2016
Module 3: Policy and Social Justice
Module 3 Topics:
1: Law from the public health perspective: The Affordable Care Act and health reform
2: Disability Policy – Healthcare and Social Services
3. Social Justice and People with Disabilities – Libertarianism, Egalitarianism, Utilitarianism
Required Readings:
· Focus on Health Reform (Kaiser Family Foundation)
· Blanck, P., Hill, E., Siegal, C. D., & Waterstone, M. (Eds.). (2006). Social Security Disability Insurance; Disability and Health Care Policy, In: Blanck, P., Hill, E., Siegal, C. D., & Waterstone, M. (Eds.). Disability civil rights law and policy. St. Paul, MN: West. 1134, 1144-1160.
· Gettens, J., Henry, A.D., & Himmelstein, J. (2012) . Assessing Health care Reform: Potential Effects on Insurance Coverage Among Persons with Disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 23(1) 3-13.
· Nosek, M.A. (2010). Healthcare apartheid and quality of life for people with disabilities. Quality of Life Research, 19, 609-610
· Braddock, D., Hemp, R., Rizzolo, M.C., Tanis, E.S., Haffer, L., Lulinski, A., & Wu, J. (2013). The State of the State in Developmental Disabilities 2013: The great recession and its aftermath. Washington, CD: American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
· Samaha, A. M. (2007). What good is the social model of disability? The University of Chicago Law Review, 74(4), 1251-1308. Retrieved from
· Silvers, A. & Stein, M.A. “Disability and the Social Contract” (2007). Faculty Publications. Paper 664.
Week 4: August 1, 2016 – August 5, 2016
Module 4: Ethics and Human Rights
Module 4 Topics:
1: Part I – Ethics – Disability Rights and Bioethics
2: Part II – Ethics – Disability Rights and Bioethics
3: Specific Ethical Issues Related to Disability:
· Autonomy/self-determination/competency
o Quality of life
o Euthanasia – passive and active
· Reproductive Rights
o Selective Abortion
o Infanticide
· Public Health and Healthcare
o Care and Services
o Research and Testing
Required Readings:
· Amundson, R. & Tresky, S. (2008). Bioethics and Disability Rights: Conflicting Values and Perspectives. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 5, 111-123.
· Oullette, A., The struggle: Disability rights versus bioethics, In: Oullette, A.(2011) Bioethics and Disability: Toward a Disability-Conscious Bioethics, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 12-46, and 78-126.