The existing body of literature on health promotion has almost entirely focused on the prevention or treatment of chronic disease (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer). Much of the interest in health promotion and disease prevention has been stimulated by the transition from infectious to chronic diseases as leading causes of death, the aging of the population, and rapidly escalating health care costs. There has been less interest in developing health promotion programs for people with physical and cognitive disabilities. Stuifbergen et al. wrote: "Although health promotion activities have been investigated in a number of groups, including working adults, recovering cancer patients, and the elderly, the health promotion of disabled people has not been a focus of research or practice for health care professionals"

With much of the driving force in health promotion on disease and disability prevention, little attention has been directed at people with physical and cognitive disabilities. In an important paper by Patrick et al., it was noted that the term, "prevention" has a different connotation for people with and without disabilities. For people without disabilities, primary prevention starts with a person being absent of disease and includes efforts to eliminate or reduce the risk of disease or disability. For people with disabilities, however, primary and secondary prevention include efforts to prevent secondary conditions in addition to preventing conditions associated with various lifestyle behaviors (e.g., smoking, inactivity, poor nutrition).