Closing Address to the International Conference of Respiratory Rehabilitation and Post-Polio Aging Problems, Chicago, Illinois
Description:
In this speech, given a month before his confirmation as U.S. Surgeon General, Koop took up an issue with which he had first-hand experience as a pediatric surgeon: the difficulties involved in integrating persons with disabilities into society through home care instead of hospital care, and through medical and occupational rehabilitation. Koop made it his mission as Surgeon General to change public perceptions of the growing number of Americans with disabilities, to stress their dignity and potential rather than their impairments and limitations, to highlight the loss of economic productivity incurred by excluding them from employment, even as he insisted on meeting their need for special health services and government protections.
Number of Image Pages:
22 (1,432,696 Bytes)
Date:
1981-10-16 (October 16, 1981)
Creator:
Koop, C. Everett
Rights:
This item is in the public domain. It may be used without permission.
Subject:
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):
Disabled Persons
Health Care Economics and Organizations
Social Change
Exhibit Category:
Congenital Birth Defects and the Medical Rights of Children: The "Baby Doe" Controversy
