Why should you participate in the All of Us Research program?
The Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities and the American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) is calling on all people with disabilities to learn more about and consider involvement in the Nation Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program. The slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us” communicates the notion that no policy or practice should be created without full and direct participation from the disability community. Historically, people with disabilities have been excluded or ignored from research studies. That ends now because of the All of Us Research Program! The All of Us Research Program is your chance to make an impact and get involved in direct, cutting edge research to find solutions that could help people with disabilities. For the first time people with disabilities are being asked to enroll in a study that can directly impact how health care is receive in the future.
The All of Us Research Program is a nationwide research program focused on precision medicine, also known as personalized medicine, to help researchers understand more about why people get sick or stay healthy. Health care has traditionally followed the same approach using a “one-size-fits-all” method, by prescribing treatment for diagnoses based on the average patient. Now, thanks to recent precision medicine initiatives, physicians are working toward tailoring treatment plans to the individual.
The All of Us Research program plans to recruit one million or more people to share their health and lifestyle data. When you join the program you will be contributing to an effort to improve the health of future generations while also advancing precision medicine and learning more about your own health through better testing, better medicine and more information presented to you. By looking for patterns in biological, environmental and behavioral factors, researchers may learn more about what affects people’s health and, in turn, the best way to treat them. Participation is especially important for people with disabilities when you consider that people with disabilities have been previously left out of biomedical research. This is your chance to change how medicine works and to solidify the slogan, “nothing about us without us”. For more information about how you can get involved please visit the following website: Join All of Us