Public Health is for Everyone An inclusive planning toolkit for public health professionals

This video features Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver and our athletes discussing why it's so important to include people with intellectual disabilities in all areas of life-especially healthcare access. The first step is learning how to communicate with respect, compassion, and care.

Whether you're in a professional environment or just having a personal conversation, consider these 10 basic rules for communicating with a person with an intellectual disability.

As part of its 2020 CARES Act Telehealth Award from The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Family Voices National created a Telemedicine Curriculum titled the Nuts and Bolts of Telemedicine: Essentials for a Family-Centered Experience.

The curriculum includes four webinars:

• Are you Connected?
• Do you Have a Device?
• Can You "See" Your Provider?
• Your Family's First Telemedicine Appointment.

There is a recording of each webinar that serves as a train-the-trainer so presenters can familiarize themselves with the information. There is an accompanying set of PowerPoint slides and talking points, in English and Spanish, that presenters can use "as is" or adapt to best need the needs of the families they serve.

The PRACTICAL Tool was originally created by the American Bar Association for attorneys to help them identify and support implementing decision-making options for persons with disabilities that are less restrictive than guardianship. Like attorneys, healthcare providers may find themselves involved with families and patients as they navigate similar issues, and also like attorneys, little has been done historically to prepare them for attending to the full breadth of decision making support options available.

This manual begins with the PRACTICAL Tool, amended for use by healthcare providers, and then moves into a more detailed overview of patient-centered care (Part I) and other decision making supports that do not involve the removal of rights (Part II).

This video provides​ information on Supported Decision Making in Health Care and Medical Treatment Decisions, including FAQs for medical and health care providers, for people with disabilities, and their family, friends, and advocates.

The production of this video was funded by a grant from the WITH Foundation. The contents do not necessarily represent the official views of the WITH Foundation. This video is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing any legal advice.

Disability can impact communication. Identifying a patient’s disability and its potential impact on effective communication is the first step in reducing the risk of miscommunication. The type of disability – whether intellectual, sensory, mobility or mental health – will help determine the kind of accommodation needed. Usually minor accommodations can be made to ensure effective communication. There are many options for auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective communication. Health care providers and their staff can develop skills and acquire tools that will allow them to successfully provide accommodations to patients with disabilities. This guide will provide information to help you communicate effectively with your patients with disabilities.

JFK Partners is a program of the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Colorado School of Medicine located at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. Designated as Colorado's University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program, JFK Partners has collaborative relationships with numerous organizations that are a part of Colorado's developmental disability and special health care needs communities.

The purpose of JFK Partners is to provide:

• Interdisciplinary Pre-service Training that is family and person-centered, culturally competent, and community-based that addresses the critical values, knowledge, and skills necessary to build inclusive communities for people with developmental disabilities and their families;
• Continuing Education focused on evidence-based practice and research for a range of levels from awareness to expert content, and to interdisciplinary and discipline-based audiences which include family members and consumers;
• Clinical Services including diagnosis, treatment, and consultative services to persons with developmental disabilities and their families;
• Community Collaboration through consultation and technical assistance to and in conjunction with a range of community partners to include state and local agencies, providers, advocacy groups, and ad hoc issue-oriented collaborative groups;
• Research in the areas of descriptive, epidemiological, clinical and health services research which contribute to the knowledge base regarding the health, and well-being and education of persons with developmental disabilities and their families; and
• Dissemination of high-quality products written by JFK Partners faculty through a variety of methods, including electronic, and in adapted formats as appropriate.

This online training provides foundational knowledge about people with disabilities, the health disparities that they experience, and how local health department staff can include people with disabilities in their public health programs and services. 

Including People with Disabilities: Public Health Workforce Competencies outlines recent advances in knowledge and practice skills that public health professionals need to include people with disabilities in the core public health functions - Assessment, Policy Development and Assurance. This document provides strategies to meet the competencies and real examples of how people with disabilities can be successfully included in public health activities. These competencies align with existing broad public health competencies, and compliment them. These existing competencies include those developed by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Masters in Public Health Core Competencies; Public Health Accreditation Board; Public Health Foundation Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, Council on Linkages Between Public Health and Academia, and the 10 Essential Public Health Services. In addition, they foster workforce capacity-building priorities, such as the Healthy People 2020, Disability and Health Objective DH-3.

An infographic that providex information about the 61 million adults in the United States that re living with a disability. Use this infographic to join CDC and its partners to work together to improve the health of people living with disabiltiies.