Every March we celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and the many contributions people with developmental disabilities (DD) make to our society.

Most of us know that good nutrition is a critical part of being healthy—"you are what you eat" is an old adage for a good reason. Not only does healthy food fuel our brains and bodies, but a diet high in unhealthy food can reduce immunity, and even impair physical and mental development. For these reasons, good nutrition is particularly important for older people and people with disabilities.

Since 1987, March has been designated National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. This month we celebrate the many contributions people with developmental disabilities make to our society.

This post appears on the Administration for Children and Families’ blog, The Family Room. National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month is a time to encourage healthy relationships and, in the words of President Obama, “reaffirm the basic human right to be free from violence and abuse.”

Home and community-based services (HCBS) provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities and older adults to receive services in their own home or community.

Upon confirmation of Dr. Thomas E. Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr. Dan Berger was selected to serve as the Acting ACL Administrator and Acting Assistant Secretary for Aging.

ACL is committed to supporting states in developing effective Adult Protective Services (APS) systems to ensure all older Americans and people with disabilities have similar protections and access to services, regardless of where they live. As part of these efforts, last summer we released Draft Voluntary Consensus Guidelines for State APS Systems and asked for your feedback.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the much-anticipated Elder Abuse Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Core Data Elements (PDF).

Dialysis patients generally receive treatment several times per week, and missing a session can have real health consequences. Unfortunately, getting to treatment can be a challenge, and programs that try to address the problem often do not understand the unique needs of these patients. This can create as many problems as the program seeks to resolve. For many dialysis patients, rides that do not show up and waiting hours to go home are familiar experiences. As Troyce Crucchiola, a dialysis patient in Portland, OR describes it, “our lives are so much about hurrying up to wait.”