Institute for Disability Studies
Family Health Notes
January 2014
Inside this issue:
1) Employment First in Mississippi - A Day at the Capitol – Jan. 14, Jackson
2) Health and Wellness Expo – Jan. 23, Jackson
3) EmployAbility Job Fair – Jan. 30, Jackson
4) Participating as a Parent Partner
5) 2014 Building Partnerships. . . Working Together Conference – Feb. 13-14, Jackson
6) Website Offers Developmental Resources for Families of Children with Disabilities
7) Early Intervention, IDEA Part C Services, and the Medical Home Collaboration
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1) Employment First in Mississippi - A Day at the Capitol – Jan. 14, Jackson
Join the Mississippi Partnerships for Employment (MSPE) program for a day at the Capitol on Jan. 14. A press conference in support of Employment First in Mississippi will be held on the second floor of the Capitol at 10 a.m. An informational display will be set up downstairs in the first floor rotunda from noon until 5 p.m. Employment First is the concept that people with disabilities of working age should expect integrated employment in the workforce as a first option, and employers and service providers should encourage, provide and create rewarding employment. For more information about Employment First, the MSPE program, or the day at the Capitol, contact Dr. Jerry R. Alliston at jerry.alliston@usm.edu or visit http://www.mspeidd.org.
2) Health and Wellness Expo – Jan. 23, Jackson
The Jackson Medical Mall Foundation will present the Health and Wellness Expo “Healthy People Building Health Communities,” on Thursday, Jan. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Jackson Medical Mall. Free screenings will be held for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and vision. There will be fitness and nutrition demos, Affordable Care workshops, and children’s screenings. For more information, call 601.982.8467 or email infojmmf@jacksonmedicalmall.org. The Jackson Medical Mall is located at 350 West Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Jackson.
3) EmployAbility Job Fair – Jan. 30, Jackson
The Governor’s Job Fair Network and the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services will host a job fair to promote the hiring of Mississippians with disabilities on Jan. 30, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Sparkman Building at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum at 1150 Lakeland Drive in Jackson. For more information, visit http://www.jobfairs.ms.gov/Pages/home.aspx.
4) Participating as a Parent Partner
Want to find out what motivates parents to serve as medical home parent partners? Check out, Why I Participate by Parent Partner Ziva Mann. Family partners play a key role in National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality’s (NICHQ) work on transforming practices into medical homes. Ziva Mann works with a team from Cambridge Pediatrics in Massachusetts. An advocate and mother of a child with hemophilia, she shares her story on the importance of a medical home and how partnering with healthcare professionals helped a practice achieve improvements. Read her story at http://www.nichq.org/stories/ParentStory-ZivaMann.html.
5) 2014 Building Partnerships. . . Working Together Conference – Feb. 13-14, Jackson
The 2014 Building Partnerships. . . Working Together Conference for professionals and parents will be held on Feb. 13-14, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Jackson Convention Complex. Sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Education Office of Special Education and the Mississippi Parent Training and Information Center (MSPTI), the conference will host 500 participants including parents of students who receive special education services, elementary, middle, and high school special education teachers, vocational rehabilitation personnel, principals, and superintendents from all the state’s school districts. For more information or to register, visit http://mspti.org/news.asp?id=9.
6) Website Offers Developmental Resources for Families of Children with Disabilities
Some young children need extra help to learn and grow. “Help Me Grow,” an interagency initiative of the state of Minnesota, provides resources for families to look at developmental milestones, learn if there are concerns, and take the lead in seeking additional support or in referring their child for a comprehensive, confidential screening or evaluation. While only Minnesota children ages birth to 5 can receive the state’s services, the information provided online by age is a helpful resource for parents. View the Help Me Grow guidelines at http://helpmegrowmn.org/.
7) Early Intervention, IDEA Part C Services, and the Medical Home Collaboration
The medical home and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C Early Intervention Program share many common purposes for infants and children ages 0 to 3 years, not the least of which is a family-centered focus. Professionals in pediatric medical home practices see substantial numbers of infants and toddlers with developmental delays and/or complex chronic conditions. Economic, health, and family-focused data each underscore the critical role of timely referral for relationship-based, individualized, accessible early intervention services and the need for collaborative partnerships in care. For more information, visit this article in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/4/e1073.full.pdf+html.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Family Health Notes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family Health Notes is sponsored by the Institute for Disability Studies (IDS), Mississippi’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at The University of Southern Mississippi. IDS provides university training, community service activities, research and information that promote the independence, productivity, and community inclusion of individuals with disabilities and their families. For more information about IDS, visit www.usm/edu/ids or call 1.888.671.0051 (TTY). To make a tax-deductible gift to IDS, visit www.usm.edu/ids/supportus.html.
The Family-to-Family Health Information and Education Center (F2F) is a family-focused, family managed resource center that empowers families of Mississippi children with special health care needs to be partners in the decisions made concerning the health of their children. F2F is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (GR#H84MC07948).
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