Center for Dignity in Healthcare for People with Disabilities
Project Description:
The Center is the first of its kind to educate healthcare professionals about the civil rights and support needs of Americans with disabilities as they access routine and lifesaving care from the beginning of life until its natural end. The Center will develop resources for healthcare professionals to address and prevent healthcare discrimination, including policies, protocols and resources and will also develop resources for reporting healthcare discrimination and advocacy in partnership with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families. The University of Cincinnati for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities will lead the coalition, which also includes MCDD, Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, University of Kentucky University Center on Disability, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Family Voices, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network and the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry.
MCDD will receive $150,000 ($50,000 annually) to support its work within the coalition and Center. Tracy Waller will join MCDD to lead its work with the Center. Waller is a licensed attorney in Maryland and the District of Columbia who specializes in public interest, health and administrative law. Prior to joining MCDD, Waller volunteered with Kennedy Kriegers Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law), an initiative of MCDD and Marylands only comprehensive medical-legal partnership that provides advocacy and legal services for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who are patients at Kennedy Krieger, and their families. Project HEALs mission is to ensure patients receive the medical and legal care they need when there is a civil legal issue requiring an attorney.
Core Function(s):
Continuing Education/Community Training
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities, Quality of Life
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Community Trainees / Short term trainees, Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Geographic Areas
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Regional, National
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
