Or the injuries seem to heal initially, but later become a chronic disability.

"Circumstances that make people poor - like low education and chronic disabilities - don't disappear when you move them someplace else," she said.

Placement may be temporary for the treatment of acute conditions or lifelong in the case of chronic disabilities.

Whether or not these problems will develop into chronic disabilities isn't clear, although the risk is high if psychotherapy doesn't continue.

But the underlying destruction of tissues continued, leading to chronic disability and premature death.

A group home is a private residence designed to serve children or adults with chronic disabilities.

Those with mental illness are at risk for long-term chronic disability and handicap.

We're dealing with chronic long-term disability, and nobody likes it.

Until 1994, the number who were struck by a chronic disability was declining by 1.6 percent each year.

If the prevalence of chronic disabilities had not changed, the number of elderly people affected would have been 2.2 million higher, he said.