52 Percent of Americans Would Rather be Dead Than Disabled

July 9, 2008 - PRLog -- Denver, CO – 52 percent of Americans would rather die than live with a severe disability, according to a recent national survey commissioned by  Disaboom (OTCBB- DSBO; www.disaboom.com), the premiere online community for people touched by disability. Disaboom today announced the shocking results in an effort to educate people about why this viewpoint is so tragic.    

The survey, launched in an effort to understand America’s perception of disability, asked, “Which would you choose: Living with a severe disability that forever alters your ability to live an independent life, or death?”  The survey findings noted significant attitudinal differences based on age, income, geographic location, and level of education.

Highlights of the research include:

•   Middle-aged Americans were less willing to live with a severe disability than older Americans; 63 percent of people age 35 to 44 chose death over disability versus 50 percent of people 55 to 64 and 56 percent of Americans 65 and older.  

•   People with higher incomes were more likely to choose death over severe disability. Among those with household income levels of $75,000 or more, 59 percent chose death, versus those with household incomes of $25,000 or less, of whom 45 percent chose death.

•   Geographic location affected a person’s choice of death over severe disability. While only 45 percent of people living in the South chose death, 61 percent of people in the West would rather die than be disabled.

•   Americans with higher levels of education would rather die than live with a severe disability.  Of those with a college education, 57 percent answered that they’d rather die than live with a severe disability, versus 30 percent of respondents who have not completed a high school education.  

Dr. Glen House, founder of Disaboom, wants to quash these statistics and is dedicated to changing America’s perception of disability.  House, himself a quadriplegic since his 20s, founded Disaboom to create the first interactive online community dedicated to improving the way people with disabilities live their lives.  As the first student in a wheelchair to graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine, the first person to climb 14,110-foot Pikes Peak in a wheelchair, and also a doctor, inventor, extreme sports enthusiast, husband and father, House hopes that Disaboom will spark a paradigm shift in the way America views disability.

“I want to share ways for people to understand that disability isn’t the end of life.  It can be a new beginning,” said House.  “Disability touches more than 54 million Americans.  My goal with Disaboom has been to provide the information, community, and connection that will enable people to pave a path that supports new goals and dreams – and determine the way they will choose to live forward.”

In its effort to engage, educate and encourage people with disabilities, as well as their friends, family and caregivers, Disaboom offers the following resources:

•   Information:  A comprehensive information source for people touched by disability, www.disaboom.com  offers recommendations from medical professionals; articles about disability-related legislation, caregiving and education; listings of accessible products and services; a job bank and hundreds of additional resources to improve the daily lives of people with disabilities.  

•   Community:  The online community’s social networking functions allow its users to interact with thousands of others in the disability community. Through discussion forums, blogs, groups and chat rooms, www.disaboom.com allows its members to share experiences, information and support with others, enabling them to overcome obstacles and live forward.  

•   Inspiration:  Disaboom provides inspiration and encouragement to its members by highlighting stories of people with disabilities who are living forward – from world-class hand cyclist Alejandro Arbor, who will represent the United States in the 2008 Paralympic Games, to Josh Blue, a comedian with cerebral palsy whose stand-up routines earned him NBC’s Last Comic Standing title in 2006.

For more information about Disaboom or living forward with a disability, visit http://www.disaboom.com.

About Disaboom
Disaboom, Inc. was founded to develop the first interactive online community dedicated to constantly improving the way people with disabilities or functional limitations live their lives. It will also serve as a comprehensive online resource not only for people living with such conditions, but also their immediate families and friends, caregivers, recreation and rehabilitation providers, and employers. More than 54 million American adults live with disabilities or functional limitations today in the United States alone. Founded and designed by doctors and fellow disaboomers to meet this community’s specific needs, www.disaboom.com brings together content and tools ranging from specialized health information to social networking to daily living resources, in a single interactive site.

About the Kelton Research Survey
The disaboom.com survey was conducted by Kelton Research between June 12, 2008 and June 16, 2008 using an email invitation and an online survey.  Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total population of 1,000 nationally representative Americans ages 18 and over.  Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results.  In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.