Prevention & Wellness

News

• IU Research and Training Institute in Disability and Community Expands to Include Eppley Institute

  Indiana University Bloomington has announced that the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands will become a seventh Indiana Institute on Disability and Community research center this summer. .

• MMI, Special Olympics Nebraska Team on Program

  The Munroe-Meyer Institute and the Special Olympics Nebraska team for the Young Athletes Program.

• Research Snapshot: Expanding the Availability and Quality of Rural Data

  In order to create policies and programs that serve the needs of people with disabilities in rural communities, it is important to know things about them, such as demographic information and location. The federal government maintains several large data sets that collect this information. However, it can be difficult to access rural disability data from these data sets.

Upcoming Events

Advice from Medical Providers  

Hear from experts on steps to prevent COVID-19 for people across the lifespan who have a disability. Discussion will include staying safe and receiving community-based services and supports, as well as tips for wellness and what to do in case someone with a disability becomes ill.

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Step Up Assistive Technology to Promote Early Literacy  

Join Michelle Schladant, PhD, ATP for a discussion on the importance of assistive technology (AT) for early literacy development. Dr. Schladant will provide an overview of the use of AT in early childhood, the current best practices as well as where we are headed in the field. She will explain the current IDEA policies related to AT at the level of state programs and school districts and highlight the tools and resources available to families. Dr. Schladant will share about the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs funded project, Step Up AT for Early Literacy. Step Up AT is a teacher coaching and professional development program and is one solution for encouraging the adoption of AT practices in the early childhood classroom environment. Outcomes from this program will be discussed.

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Advice from People who have a Disability on Dealing with COVID-19  

Hear from self-advocates and allies on how to deal with COVID-19 as they share tips and strategies on hand washing, mental health, nutrition, and exercise. Steps on how to work with personal care attendants and direct support providers will be reviewed. Be safe in your relationships - what does social distancing mean in your friendships and relationships.

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Resources

• Joint Statement from Members of the Disability Community and Allies on Gun Violence Prevention Policy and Mental Health Disabilities

  All Americans, including people with disabilities, have a civil right to live in their communities and not be segregated or imprisoned simply because they have a disability. Building more institutions, as the Administration proposes, unjustly threatens the civil rights and freedom of people with mental health disabilities while doing nothing to reduce gun violence in this country.

  Joint Statement [download]
• New Materials on the Opioid Crisis and People with Disabilities for Consumers, Providers, and Community Organizations

  Three new issue briefs on medication treatment, peer support, and traumatic brain injury from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research grantee Brandeis University provide information for people with disabilities and their families, substance use treatment providers, and community organizations looking for resources on how the opioid crisis may be impacting people with disabilities.

• Public Health Surveillance of Prenatal Opioid Exposure in Mothers and Infants

  The US opioid crisis is the public health emergency of our time and requires urgent public health action to monitor and protect the most vulnerable Americans. We have witnessed a startling death toll in 2017 with 70 237 drug overdose deaths in the United States, of which two-thirds involved opioids. The devastating consequences of this epidemic for mothers and infants have received less attention. Increases in opioid use and misuse in pregnancy have paralleled the increases in the general population; at delivery hospitalization, there were 4 times as many women with an opioid use disorder in 2014 compared with 1999. One of the most immediate and visible impacts of the opioid crisis on infants is the drug withdrawal in the newborn period, termed neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). On the basis of 2014 data, 1 newborn was diagnosed with NAS every 15 minutes in the United States, totaling about 32 000 infants annually with associated hospital costs estimated at $563 million.

  PrenatalOpioidExposure.pdf [download]
• HRSA Issues Hurricane Resources for Children with Special Health Care Needs

  In collaboration with the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, HRSA has developed a collection of resources informing hurricane response and recovery for families, organizations, and clinicians caring for children with special health care needs.

• Integrating Infectious Disease Prevention and Treatment into the Opioid Response

  The opioid crisis in the United States is devastating the lives of millions of Americans. Perhaps overshadowed by the alarming rise in overdoses and deaths is the accompanying numbers of injection-related infectious diseases. Opioid overdose deaths increased fivefold from 1999 to 2016, and new hepatitis C infections more than tripled from 2010 to 2016.

• Healthy Weight Research Network (HWRN) Update

  The Healthy Weight Research Network for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental disabilities (HWRN) was established in July 2013 with Autism CARES funding via the Maternal Child Health Bureau�s (MCHB). The HWRN is led by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at UMass Medical School, in collaboration with Tufts University School of Medicine. The HWRN�s mission is to advance the understanding of obesity risk factors in children with ASD and other developmental disabilities, to promote the development of evidence-based solutions to achieve healthy weight in this population, and to disseminate research findings to broad and diverse audiences.

• At-Risk Populations and Pandemic Influenza: Planning Guidance for State, Territorial, Tribal, and Local Health Departments
    from http://www.astho.org
• Center for Health Promotion Research for People with Disabilities
    from http://uic-chp.org
• Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities
    from http://uic-chp.org
• Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities
    from http://www.hesperian.org
• The AUCD Network: Promoting Wellness for Persons with Disabilities

  An abridged sampling for download and printing of wellness promotion activities

• Senator Harkin Reintroduces Promoting Wellness for Individuals with Disabilities Act

  Senator Harkin's floor statement.