Ep 144: From Immigrant Health to Disability Justice: Dr. Lauren Clark on Advancing Health Equity

Dr. Lauren Clark, a nurse, researcher, and professor at UCLA, discusses her career journey and work in developmental disability and health equity. Dr. Clark explains how her early research with immigrant communities and her personal experience as a parent of two children with developmental disabilities led her to shift her focus toward disability justice and improving health care systems for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She reflects on confronting her own ableism, critiques the limitations of the traditional medical model, and emphasizes the importance of accessible language, equity, autonomy, and quality of life. She highlights her research on health-related quality-of-life measures, her commitment to making tools freely available, and her teaching on care work and disability justice, concluding with three guiding principles: dreaming disability justice, acting responsibly within one’s role, and working collectively to support self-determination and a good life for people with disabilities.