MCHB Minute - December 2017
December 18, 2017
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Greetings from MCHB!
As we near the end of 2017, we can reflect on and be proud of the many accomplishments across all of our Autism CARES programs! Together, we are improving the care and outcomes for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DDs) through training, advancing best practices, and service. We are advancing innovative approaches to reach underserved populations that increase access to comprehensive coordinated care.
In this MCHB Minute, we want to acknowledge and highlight the great work across our CARES programs in promoting family-professional partnerships that honor the strengths that everyone brings as part of an interdisciplinary team. Here are a few highlights of the efforts across our Training, Research, and State Implementation programs to advance family-professional partnerships in their programs, practices and provision of care:
- DBP programs are including family faculty members and family leaders as part of their interdisciplinary team integral to didactic instruction, family centered care, and program evaluation.
- LEND programs are making great strides in incorporating the perspectives of family members and individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities into every level of program planning, implementation, evaluation and dissemination; many LEND programs are offering trainees an embedded family mentorship experience in which they establish an ongoing relationship with a "host" family that has a child/youth with a neurodevelopmental disability, to ground their didactic and clinical training in real-world experiences;
- State Implementation programs are helping families navigate the complex health care system, incorporating family engagement in all aspects of program activities, and evaluating the impact of their efforts on the knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy of the families served;
- Research programs are fostering active engagement with parents and families who are integral partners, involved in all aspects of research planning and implementation, to improve the research protocols and processes including decreasing response burden, increasing participation of traditionally underrepresented populations in research and enhancing the input of parents/guardians and their understanding of the research.
Thank you to all of our CARES programs for these efforts and all that you do for children, youth and their families. On behalf of MCHB, have a very happy holiday season and best wishes for the new year.
Hae Young Park
Acting Director, Division of MCH Workforce Development
