Project Description:
LEND is a grant program, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, to provide long-term, graduate level interdisciplinary training as well as interdisciplinary services and care. The purpose of the LEND training is to improve the health of infants, children and adolescents with disabilities. This is accomplished through preparing trainees from diverse professional disciplines to assume leadership roles in their respective fields and by ensuring high levels of interdisciplinary clinical competence. The Arkansas LEND includes four universities in Arkansas (UAMS, UAF, UCA and UALR). Trainees in speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, nursing, health administration, genetics, genetic counseling, nutrition, social work, special education, and family/self advocacy are included in the program. The curriculum includes didactic lectures, a broad array of clinical experiences, and guided engagement with families. Lectures include those presented live during the year, those that have been recorded in previous years and "pop-up lectures" that are developed to respond to identified needs or interests of trainees. The clinical experiences include traditional diagnostic clinics, home visits with families participating in an EIBI program, ADA accessibility surveys of community sites, and various preventive health activities such as "cooking matters". Trainees also participate in interdisciplinary interviews of four families each year where the family's specific needs and priorities are identified, learning issues are researched, and information is presented verbally to the family and then organized into a handout to serve as a resource. These families are selected to represent different disabilities, ages and cultural backgrounds.
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Performing Direct and/or Demonstration Services, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information, Continuing Education/Community Training, Other Direct/Model Services
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
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Specific Groups
