ENHP Professor Publishes Policy Brief on Adaptive Cycling
University of Hartford Professor Mary Gannotti and colleagues attest health policy changes are needed at the national level to provide insurance coverage for adaptive cycles for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities—improving health and decreasing costs.
Gannotti and the other team members—with each bringing extensive expertise in such conditions and physical activity—have published a policy brief on the topic, writing that there is ample research to support policy changes using primary evidence from cycling research.
The brief, “Adaptive Cycling Equipment for Individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities as Durable Medical Equipment,” by Gannotti and academia colleagues Margaret E O'Neil, Maria Fragala-Pinkham, George E Gorton, and Daniel G Whitney, published in Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences within its section on Disability, Rehabilitation, and Inclusion.
Gannotti, professor of physical therapy in UHart’s College of Education, Nursing, and Health Professions, and colleagues detail how physical activity improves health, function, and quality of life for people with neurodevelopmental disabilities, which, in turn, can reduce their cost of health care over their lives.
However, appropriate types of physical activity can be difficult for them to access, as well as too costly to afford—currently adaptive cycling equipment is not covered by medical insurance.
Gannotti explained in the executive summary that individuals with such conditions make up 17 percent of the population, with a 10 percent increase in the last decade. Lifetime health care costs for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities are estimated to be 20-80 percent higher than peers.
The brief further discusses a possible action of changing health-care policies so that adaptive cycling equipment is covered for those with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Policies to support physical activity are indicated. Considering legislative or policy changes for adaptive cycles to be covered as durable medical equipment is an actionable step.