Among some people with disabilities, there is a belief that the emphasis in health care has been directed at the primary prevention of disability rather than at prevention or reduction of secondary health conditions in people who have a disability. Many health care professionals would agree that terms such as "wellness" and "health promotion" are often not associated with people with disabilities. Teague et al wrote:

"Federal efforts in health promotion and disease prevention, as described in the 1990 Health Objectives for the Nation Report, focus on primary prevention for the general, non-disabled population and strategies that promote and maintain health among people already healthy. Unfortunately, specific attention to prevention strategies for people with disabilities has not received sufficient attention. Health maintenance objectives have been largely ignored since many health providers fail to distinguish between primary and secondary disabilities."

The focus of this article is to describe the field of health promotion as it relates to people with disabilities and to offer a conceptual model of health promotion that addresses the growing needs of people with disabilities.