What a great video from the Georgetown University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and Rush University regarding the need for quality and person centered healthcare for persons with IDD. None of Us Want to Stand Still" is a documentary made in partnership with Rush University Medical Center and Georgetown University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. The documentary shines a light onto the reality of how poorly people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are treated in the healthcare system. The film gives voice to advocates to share their stories, as well as experts' opinions on how the healthcare system can improve the treatment of persons with intellectual disabilities and on how changes can be made on all levels of a healthcare organization to better treat these patients. To view the video, click HERE.
Happy Birthday, Vernita! Well, it was a few days ago, but we are shouting out to you belated! Her neighbors and good friends, Jerome and Joyce made her cards to help celebrate since they couldn’t be there in person. It is important to note that none of this would be possible without the work of our amazing DSP’s. #forgottenfaces #dspsareessential #quarantinebirthdays
Here are just a few members of RCM’s fantastic nursing team! Our fearless leader, Clinical Director Birhanie, who has been with RCM for 4 years (we don’t know where we would be without you), RN Kathy Ann (8 year employee), and LPN Festus (4 year employee). These are just a few of many who, despite personal risk, are working around the clock to provide people with excellent care. Thank you! #nursesweek2020 #communityhealthnurses #thankanurse Clinical director, Birhanie is sitting in a black chair at his desk. He is wearing a blue button down shirt and a blue surgical mask. He has his hands folded in his lap.
RN Kathy Ann takes a selfie. She is wearing hoop earrings and a blue and white surgical mask. Her black glasses are propped on top of her head.
LPN Festus stands in the corridor of a house hallway with brown doors. Festus is wearing a maroon protection gown, a white mask, face shield, protective glasses, hair cover, and bright white sneakers. He is standing up straight with his hands in the front pocket of the gown.
The Trump administration is being pushed to ensure that people with disabilities aren’t illegally denied health care during the coronavirus pandemic. More than 400 organizations are calling Department of Health and Human Services to issue additional guidance outlining how federal anti-discrimination laws apply in the event that medical care must be rationed. Already the HHS Office for Civil Rights issued a bulletin in March clarifying that the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and other laws prohibiting discrimination in federally-funded health programs continue to apply during the pandemic. To read more on this story, click here:Feds Urged To Prevent COVID-19 Disability Discrimination
Paula, a woman with short gray hair sits in her wheelchair in front of a computer. Her DSP is sitting in a chair beside her, assisting her with online shopping. There is a pair of black pants up on the computer screen.
He was one of a group of men with disabilities who worked for substandard wages at a turkey plant but found justice. He succumbed to the new coronavirus. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. If Willie Levi had enjoyed choice in life, he would have gone back to Texas — back to the small city of Orange, where he had played the spoons, sung the blues and lived in a shotgun house crowded with cousins. But Mr. Levi never had much choice. He was sent first to an institution and then to Iowa, where he and other men with intellectual disabilities worked in virtual servitude at a turkey-processing plant for decades. He never made it back to Orange. To read more on this story, click here:Willie Levi, 73, Dies; He Escaped a Life of Servitude
Governments should consider several steps to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities, including removing individuals from institutions and granting testing priority, according to guidance from the United Nations. In an 11-page document issued this week, the U.N. Human Rights Office said that countries and other stakeholders ought to do more to address the needs of people with disabilities who are being inordinately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. To read more on this story, click here:UN Calls For Better Protections For Those With Disabilities During Pandemic
With restaurants and stores already showing their appreciation towards nurses and health care workers as the front liners of the coronavirus pandemic, locations across the country are showing some extra love for National Nurses Week from May 6 to 12. The celebration comes at the heels of members of the National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the U.S., protesting in front of the White House on April 21 to call attention to the thousands of health care workers nationwide who have become infected with COVID-19 due to lack of personal protective equipment. To read more on this story, click here: National Nurses Week: Freebies and Discounts for Health Care Workers May 6 -12
(CNN)The need to wear facemasks in public during the coronavirus pandemic established a new normal for people around the world. But it also created a new challenge for the hearing impaired. During curbside treatments, Dr. Sheri Mello, an audiologist in Raleigh, North Carolina, discovered that her patients were really struggling to hear because of street noise and the face coverings of her staff. "The covered masks cut down the volume level by 10 decibels," Mello told CNN. "And that's a lot. You're cutting a quarter of the volume." To read more on this story, click here:This Doctor Hands Out Clear Masks for Free to Help Her Hearing-Impaired Patients
