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This section includes downloadable documents, guidebooks, and tools.

*Resources below open in a new window.

Community Health Inclusion Index

The Community Health Inclusion Index (CHII) is a set of survey tools used to help communities gather information on the extent to which there are health living resources that are inclusive of all members of the community, including persons with disabilities.

Community Health Inclusion Sustainability Planning Guide (CHISP)

The CHISP is a supplement to the Sustainability Planning Guide for Healthy Communities (CDC, 2011) and may be used in conjunction with it to ensure inclusion for every community member regarding health initiatives in a community.

Get the Facts

Get the Facts is an online magazine that will help you become more physically active or, if you are a service provider or family member, equip you with the knowledge to provide a more enriching physical activity program for your clients or loved one.

Guidelines for Inclusive Road Races

For people with disabilities to be included in road races the course must be safe and accessible. Outside of the race course accessibility, a few considerations to the event itself can create a welcoming environment for everyone to be physically active. Download this brochure with infographic to learn about guidelines for inclusive road races. *Download for accurate file*

Discover Accessible Fitness

This booklet is designed to serve as a wheelchair user's guide for using fitness equipment. It can also serve as a tool for fitness professionals to become familiar with key considerations for wheelchair users using fitness equipment and to broaden their knowledge to help more people. This guide discusses safety, stability, adaptive equipment, accessibility, exercise precautions, and a full overview of the components of fitness including cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility.

Life on Wheels

Life on Wheels is a guide for living a healthy, active life with a spinal cord injury. This guide includes considerations for individuals who may have a new or longtime spinal cord injury and discusses tips for living a healthy life while promoting independence.

Certified Inclusive Fitness Trainer

ACSM/NCHPAD Certified Inclusive Fitness Trainers (CIFT) master an understanding of exercise precautions for people with disabilities, and utilize safe, effective and adapted methods of exercise training to provide exercise recommendations. CIFTs provide services with an understanding of current ADA policy specific to recreation facilities (U.S. Access Board Guidelines) and standards for accessible facility design. Go to http://certification.acsm.org/acsm-inclusive-fitness-trainer to learn more about this certification.

Fitness Center Makeover

Created by NCHPAD and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the virtual tour of an accessible community fitness center provides a layout of exercise equipment in logical groupings for fitness workouts while also assuring each piece of equipment can be accessed by any user, including people who use wheelchairs or other assistive devices for mobility. Similarly, the exercise equipment shown in this virtual center embodies universal designs which allow use by ambulatory participants as well as participants using wheelchairs.

Accessible Garden

The NCHPAD accessible virtual tour has photographs which provide a general tour of the Enabling Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden, consisting of four major components of a barrier-free garden: paving, containers, raised beds, and vertical gardens. You will also find several ideas for each of these components that can be done at home on a smaller budget using widely available materials.