This handbook developed by Jane Maxwell, Julia Watts Belsser and Darlena David, will help women with disabilities overcome the social stigma of disability and inadequate care which are greater barriers to health than the disabilities themselves.

This groundbreaking handbook was developed with the help and experience of women with disabilities in 42 countries - women whose disabilities include blindness, deafness, amputations, paralysis, learning difficulties, small stature, epilepsy, arthritis, and cerebral palsy. The book offers useful advice for women, as well as resources for health professionals, caregivers for women with disabilities and trainers working with disability groups.

Why a book about health for women with disabilities?
Women with disabilities need good health. Good health is more than the absence of disease. When a disabled woman has good health it means she experiences well-being—of her body, mind, and spirit.

Women with disabilities can take charge of their own health when they have information that affirms their own experience of their bodies and health needs. They can also use this information to change the way people think about disability. As women with disabilities take charge of their lives, they will gain respect and support in their communities.

While disability itself may not be a health problem, many times the health problems of women with disabilities go untreated. This can mean that a simple health problem in a woman with disability, if left untreated, can become a lifethreatening problem.

We must remove the barriers that keep disabled women from achieving good health.

Visit A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities Download Page

You can download full publication in PDF format.

Jane Maxwell, Julia Watts Belser, and Darlena David
Hesperian Foundation
www.hesperian.org
1919 Addison Street, #304
Berkeley, California 94704, USA

This book provides basic information to help women with disabilities stay healthy, and will also help those who assist women with disabilities to provide good care. You can help us improve this health guide. So, if you are a woman with a disability, a caregiver, or anyone with ideas or suggestions about how to improve this book and the health of women with disabilities, please write to us. We would like to hear about your experiences and practices.

ABOUT HESPERIAN FOUNDATION
The Hesperian Foundation is a non-profit publisher of books and newsletters for community-based health care. Our first book, Where there is no doctor, is considered to be one of the most accessible and widely used community health books in the world.

Simply written and heavily illustrated, Hesperian books are designed so that people with little formal education can understand, apply and share health information. Developed collaboratively with health workers and community members from around the world, our books and newsletters address the underlying social, political, and economic causes of poor health and suggest ways groups can organize to improve health conditions in their communities. In addition, Hesperian relies on a multi-faceted distribution strategy to ensure our materials reach those who need them most.

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