Joav Merrick 
Disability: Some Recent International Research 

Wherever we live or whatever we do, disability will always be a part of us. With increasing age, we will all surely encounter disability. Disability can arise from age or outside forces, such as a traffic accident. It is estimated that more than a billion people, or about 15% of the world’s population, live with some form of disability. Disability research is therefore important not only for the individual and the family, but also for the society to adapt and facilitate a better quality of life for this segment of the population. For example, research from the United States found significant disparities in the prevalence of disability between urban and rural residents, with rural residents having the highest prevalence of disability. Such epidemiology and survey research can be important tools for public health and can guide policy makers to allocate budgets, service facilities and expertise. In this book, we have gathered recent disability research from around the world that we hope will be of interest to the reader.