ATLANTA, GA – The Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University, in partnership with Adult Disability Medical Healthcare, Inc. (ADMH), received a grant from the WITH Foundation to develop and implement and series of web-based trainings for primary care providers (PCPs). The training series will educate PCPs on best practices for providing accessible, responsive, and culturally competent care to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) during pandemics like COVID-19 and other emergencies.
Trainings will be implemented using the Extension of Community Health Outcomes (ECHO®) model. The ECHO® model is an established guided-practice approach designed to increase workforce capacity to apply best practices in healthcare, education, and other fields in a cost-effective manner. ECHO® trainings are held via videoconferencing to increase their geographic reach.
This initiative is unique in that it is among the first ECHO® training to feature individuals with IDD and family members serving as experts alongside health care professionals in the development and delivery of the modules. This approach realizes the CLD’s mission and values of ensuring cultural competence in all services, understanding the positive contributions of individuals, families, and communities, and above all, recognizing that people with IDD are the experts of their own lives.
The training developed and administered by CLD and ADMH will include 8 modules and will be offered weekly from September 22nd through November 11th, 2021. Continuing Medical Education (CME) units will be offered to eligible attendees at no cost to participants. Following this training, the project team anticipates adapting and scaling the modules so that they are appropriate and informative for other key populations who care for individuals with IDD, including clinic staff, nurses, social workers, and direct support professionals.
For more information, or to register to attend this free training series, please contact Dr. Erin Vinoski Thomas at [email protected].