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Highlights from the Network
Why Create a Care Center for Women with Disabilities?
 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 27 million women in the United States have a disability. Too often, these women face overwhelming barriers to basic gynecologic and preventive health care.
Women with disabilities are far less likely to receive the recommended screening tests and regular preventive care due to inaccessible medical facilities and equipment.
Common barriers include:
- Inaccessible exam rooms (doors too narrow or space too small)
- Examining tables that are too high
- Mammogram equipment that requires patients to stand
Additionally, many gynecologists feel ill-prepared to address the complex needs faced by women with such disabilities as spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and other conditions.
UPMC and Magee-Women's Hospital of UPMC have been leaders in providing access to preventive health care services to women with disabilities. In recognition of the urgent need to provide women with disabilities improved access to screening and treatment, UPMC is offering pro bono consulting services to help establish accessible specialty clinics serving women with disabilities.
If you would like more information on the project or to help creating a center visit the websites below.
Project Information:www.UPMCMagee.com/CreateGynCareCenter
Magee Center for Women with disabilities website: http://www.upmc.com/locations/hospitals/magee/services/center-for-women-with-disabilities/pages/default.aspx
News from AUCD's Oral/Dental Community of Practice
 AUCD's new Oral and Dental Health Community of Practice has begun work on two goals: 1. Sharing information/Training promotion (day to day priority)
2. Policy changes related to Medicaid coverage (explore making essential health benefit in exchanges) (long term goal)
We hope you enjoy the following resources on oral/dental health from this Community of Practice:
NASHP presentation to Virginia Oral Health Coalition
Adult Dental Benefits in Medicaid: Recent Experiences from Seven States
The group will meet every over month and share information in between. The next group call is scheduled for February 18, 2016 at 12:00 pm (ET). If you like to join the meeting, call 1-866-951-1151, conference room 7307522.
The Transitions Clinic
 The Center for Disabilities is pleased to offer a new clinical modality in response to the growing need and demand for health care transition services as adolescents with disabilities and/or chronic health conditions make the change from pediatric to adult medical care.
This innovative clinic is being piloted by the Center for Disabilities over the next year. Transitions clinics will be offered monthly beginning Sept. 9 on the second Wednesday of the month. Young adults between the ages of 17 and 21 who have significant, chronic health care needs will be considered for participation. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact Pat Herman at [email protected] or 605-357-1577.
See the full article here
Mary Free Bed YMCA First Building in World to Receive Universal Design Certification
 The new Mary Free Bed YMCA has received the world's first Global Universal Design Certification from the Global Universal Design Commission (GUDC). The GUDC created guidelines for buildings and spaces to help meet the needs of different populations, including: the elderly, individuals with disabilities, those recovering from injury, and people with hearing and sight challenges.
Read the full article here.
News From AUCD's Oral/Dental Community of Practice for Tobacco Cessation for People with Disabilities
The next Community of Practice meeting will be on Tuesday, February 2, 2016 from 3:00m - 4:00pm. For more information, please contact Abigail Alberico, Public Health Project Manager, AUCD
National Core Indicators: An Overview
 National Core Indicators is a collaboration between the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS), Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) and state developmental disability agencies of participating states. The project began in 1997 as an effort to provide states with valid and reliable tools to use in support of their efforts to improve system performance and to better serve people with ID/DD and their families. The current participation in NCI consists of over 45 states, as well as several sub-state regional entities. All participating states and entities participate voluntarily. NCI requires a common set of data collection protocols to gather information about the performance of service delivery systems for people ID/DD. The data collection cycle for 2015-16 is well underway. For more info on the National Core Indicators Project, go to www.nationalcoreindicators.org
Read the Full article here
Including People with Disabilities - Public Health Competencies
One in five Americans-over 54 million-have a disability, yet many public health programs do not include them in their program design. This is particularly concerning, as people with disabilities are more likely to have health issues, including chronic conditions related to being overweight and physically inactive, as well as a higher prevalence of smoking.
Very few public health professionals have received specific training on how to incorporate people with disabilities during their efforts to carry out the 10 essential public health services (www.health.gov/phfunctions/public.htm).
In October 2015, the AUCD Public Health team, under a cooperative agreement within the CDC, began work on the Including People with Disabilities-Public Health Workforce Competencies project. The purpose of developing and disseminating these competencies is to provide basic knowledge on the relationship between disability and public health programs and to increase the capacity of public health practitioners to include people with disabilities in their public health efforts. These competencies inform public health professionals what they should be doing to include people with disabilities in their efforts, and provides specific strategies on how to do it, along with strategy highlights providing an examples of how other public health programs have been able to include people with disabilities. This project will revise the existing drafted competencies (www.aucd.org/competencies), field test the competencies with public health professionals, and develop a robust dissemination plan.
We would like your input. We are now in the field testing phase of the project and would like your participation in a survey on the competencies to help AUCD revise the draft and meet the needs of public health professionals.
After reading the draft Competencies document please participate in a short survey. There is also a longer survey if you have more time.
Short Survey (5 minutes)
Longer Survey (10-15 minutes)
If you would like more information on the project or to become a "partner in the know" please contact Shannon Haworth, Public Health Program Manager, AUCD.
Friends of CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) - Making Connections in 2016 Meeting
 The Friends of NCBDDD will be having an in person meeting on January 26, 2016 from 2:00 pm - 5:30 pm at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. There is still time to register for the event.
Register here
Agenda
Call for Communications Committee members
Shannon Haworth, the incoming Friends of NCBDDD Executive Committee Communications Chair invites interested members to join the Communications Committee. The Committee will help create a communications strategy for 2016 around each thematic area and further the strategic goals of the Friends of NCBDDD. If you would like to join the committee please contact Shannon Haworth at [email protected]. The Committee will discussing a 2016 Strategy at the Friends of NCBDDD meeting on 1/26/16.
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