Developing the capacity of healthcare providers to deliver services to people with disabilities is crucial in prevention of secondary conditions. The presentation will discuss the status of the Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) project. The goal of the project is to bring the Department’s 486 funded providers into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to develop provider capacity. The primary means of attaining this goal was through the creation of set ADA policies and procedures at the Department level. Now in its second phase, the project has been expanded to work collaboratively with community-based organizations to develop the most efficient and effective means of developing capacity for health care provision to people with disabilities.
During the session the project results to date will be provided. In addition to the results, the positive and negative aspects of utilizing policies to develop capacity will be analyzed and discussed. Practical information and guidance on developing collaborations with community groups to develop disability access capacity will be given. Participants will gain an understanding of different models of attaining disability access and the tools that can be applied in the development of their own access processes.
Learning Objectives: During this session, faculty will discuss the results of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s ADA compliance project and its practical applications for other health departments, health providers and other interested parties. At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to: 1. Analyze one model of building disability access to healthcare 2. Articulate procedures for creating disability access 3. Identify specific methods for developing access at the community level
Keywords: Disability, Access
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.