Health
Achieving and maintaining good health is essential so that people with disabilities can participate in education, productive work, recreation, and all aspects of community life. Children and adults with disabilities are at risk for having special health care needs that often are not adequately addressed by health care professionals. The Partnership is committed to implementing projects and activities that support the training of health care and related professionals and paraprofessionals in interdisciplinary settings. Our goal is to reduce the disparities that families and people with disabilities experience when accessing health care and related services.
The Partnership works collaboratively with key state and national leaders, as well as community providers, to address health promotion and education for people with disabilities and their families. Promoting the health and well-being of all people with disabilities is an ongoing focus and includes efforts in the early identification of children with autism, health promotion and prevention of secondary conditions, health care transitions, and reducing the risk of abuse and neglect. We are actively involved in training health professionals and related school personnel as they become the next generation of leaders. We are committed to reaching professionals, families, and community members through training, technical assistance, dissemination, and research activities. All activities are weighted toward creating environments where children and their families can learn, grow, and experience fulfilling lives in supportive communities.
Communication and Health Advocacy Training - (CHAT)
CHAT provides health literacy training to adults with disabilities. CHAT has two parts, the first is training for adults with disabilities, the second is a guide for supporters and families.
CREATE-CHA (Combining Research, Engagement, and Art To Enhance - Community and Health Advocacy)
The CREATE-CHA program will promote equity in health care for people with IDD. Through theatre-based training, problem-solving, and self-determination, the program will prepare people with IDD to assert more control over their healthcare experiences by being stronger communicators and advocates in healthcare environments. CREATE-CHA will address healthcare professional bias and discomfort by developing and implementing a mentorship model that allows people with IDD to train and collaborate with medical students. PPD will implement the mentorship model with two cohorts of approximately 10-15 VCU School of Medicine students each.
CREATE-Wellbeing
Project Combining Research, Engagement, and Art to Enhance Wellbeing (CREATE-Wellbeing) will bring together diverse stakeholders from across the VCU and Richmond community committed to using research, community engagement, and art to promote holistic wellbeing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Program
Through funding by the Virginia Department of Health’s Early Hearing Detection & Intervention program (EHDI), support is provided to parents just learning of their newborn’s hearing loss and visits are conducted with hospitals and audiologist practices to learn more about hearing screening processes for infants and toddlers.
Family to Family (F2F) Network of Virginia
With funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Partnership for People with Disabilities' Center for Family Involvement operates Virginia's Family to Family Health Information Center (called the Family to Family Network of Virginia). Visit www.centerforfamilyinvolvement.org for more information.
Healing Narratives
The goal of Healing Narratives is to capture the experiences of BIPOC with IDD (co-researchers) regarding their experiences with their patient-doctor communication and disseminate the information on how to improve patient-doctor communication by using participatory research methods.
I-CAN! Accessibility Project
I-CAN! is a collaboration between the Partnership for People with Disabilities and the VCU School of Social Work and is supported by grant funding through the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victims Fund by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. The mission of the I-CAN! Accessibility Project is to promote and facilitate awareness about the abuse of people with disabilities and to advocate for equal access to services and legal protections. The project began in 2007 and has successfully received continuation grants every two years.
SALTTR (Self-Advocate Leadership for Trust and Tailored Recruitment)
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)’s Partnership for People with Disabilities and self-advocate leaders (SALs) will improve capacity to engage stakeholders with IDD in patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) by developing a bank of trust-building and recruitment products, guides and resources.
Supporting Survivors of Abuse with Disabilities
This Module series is designed to help increase your knowledge and skills when supporting a survivor of abuse with disabilities. There are 7 training modules. CEUs and certificates are available.
Supporting Survivors Who Are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing
These modules were created by the Ensuring Accessibility to all Survivors Project. This training features an overview of how to recognize abuse, how to support someone when they disclose, and resources available to support survivors who are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The training is designed for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialists and was created in collaboration with the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Virginia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (Va-LEND)
The Va-LEND program is committed to the preparation of professionals, family members and people with disabilities statewide in the field of childhood neurodevelopmental disabilities who will assume leadership roles within health care and disability service systems. The interdisciplinary program provides a 12-24 month curriculum of interactive seminars, clinical and community-based practica, planned grassroots and systems level policy activities, and for most trainees, a family mentorship experience. The curriculum emphasizes all aspects of neurodevelopmental and related disabilities, social and family environments across the life course, the interdisciplinary approach, leadership and research.
