AUCD's Public Health Practice

Since 2007, AUCD has partnered with The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through the Act Early Initiative to promote collaboration among early childhood programs in states and territories so children with autism or other developmental disabilities can be identified early and get the services and support they and their families need.

Learn more about the Act Early Initiative

The Friends of NCBDDD (formerly the External Partners Group, EPG) is a coalition of government and private sector participants who work together to enhance the mission and activities of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) in promoting child development; preventing birth defects and developmental disorders/disabilities; and enhancing the quality of national center life and preventing secondary conditions among people who are living with mental or physical disabilities, or a combination thereof. For more information on the Friends Activities, please contact Chevelle Glymph, Senior Director of Public Health, [email protected].

Health is for Everyone: Action Team (HEAT) is a collaboration of several organizations led by AUCD to include developmental disabilities in medical education at all levels of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education of physicians. HEAT achieved successful adoption of the American Medical Association (AMA) resolution on including Developmental Disabilities; however, continued momentum is needed to implement specific required competencies for physicians on developmental disabilities. Learn more and check out the updated healthcare access resources in the Public Health is for Everyone toolkit.

The Including People with Disabilities - Public Health Workforce Competencies are designed to increase the capacity of public health providers to include people with disabilities in their public health plans and efforts. Designed specifically for professionals already working in the public health field, the competencies provide foundational knowledge around the relationship between disability and public health programs and outcomes.

People with disabilities make up 19% of the adult U.S. population, however most public health training programs do not include curricula addressing the health of people with disabilities and methods for including them in core public health efforts. This population has a higher incidence of chronic conditions and experience significant health disparities.

The Including People with Disabilities - Public Health Workforce Competencies are designed to increase the capacity of public health providers to include people with disabilities in their public health plans and efforts. Designed specifically for professionals already working in the public health field, the competencies provide foundational knowledge around the relationship between disability and public health programs and outcomes.

The Including People with Disabilities Public Health Competencies have been developed by a national committee comprised of disability and public health experts for the current public health workforce. For more information please visit www.disabilityinpublichealth.org

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For more information contact Chevelle Glymph, Senior Director of Public Health, [email protected].

Inclusive Health, is a collaborative national movement that mobilizes partners to influence inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in health promotion and care - and make it the norm. AUCD collaborated with the Special Olympics International, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), to create a National Inclusive Health Movement.

Public Health is for Everyone is an online toolkit that serves as a one-stop resource to increase the capacity of public health professionals to create programs that benefit entire communities, including people who have disabilities. The PHEtoolkit provides public health professionals with resources to enhance their planning efforts in key issue areas.

Prepared4All is offered by AUCD’s National Technical Assistance and Training Center on Disability Inclusion in Emergency Preparedness and aims to build capacity for collaboration among people with disabilities, disability organizations and their networks, and local emergency management and public health departments to build trust, create sustainable relationships, and for people with disabilities to get a seat at the emergency planning table.

Nutrition is for Everyone, is a past program that aimed to increase awareness and consumption of fruits and vegetables among people with disabilities through efforts of Nutrition Ambassadors, Deputy Ambassadors, and Community Nutrition Advocates in states with the most dire need.  For new information and discussions, join the Nutrition SIG to collaborate on or share resources on nutrition and disability, including events and success stories on programs or activities that are inclusive of people with disabilities regarding nutrition.