A Continuing Education course presented by the University of Arizona Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities, Northern Arizona University, Western Region Public Health Training Center (WRPHTC), and the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. 

The "Your Patient with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disability: Accessibility, Decision-Making, and Consent" Continuing Education (CE) is aimed at providing primary care providers, along with community health workers, nurses, social workers, dietitians, and health educators, in Arizona, with continuing education related to more equitable and inclusive health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

• Cost: FREE
• Fully online and self-guided
• Can be completed in ~1.5 to 2 hours

CE Available: 

• Continuing Education Contact Hours for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES): This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES®) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES®) to receive up to 2  total Category I continuing education contact hours (1.5 Continuing Competency Credits). WRPHTC provider number 99036.
• 2 ANCC Credit for Nurses
• 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits (Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity)
• 2 Credits for Dietitians (CPEUs): As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the WRPHTC is approved to offer continuing professional education units by the Commission on Dietetic Registration. The WRPHTC designates this activity for 2 contact hours for dietitians. Dietitians should enter activities as type 102 on their Activity Log.
• 2 Interprofessional Continuing Education Credits (IPCEs): This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 2 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.

REGISTER HERE

About the Project

The Primary Care Provider Continuing Education (CE) Program is aimed at providing primary care providers, along with community health workers, nurses, social workers, dietitians, and health educators in Arizona, with continuing education related to more equitable and inclusive health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). 
 

Why is this project important?

Through previous research, Drs. Armin and Williamson learned that health care providers are not always aware of best practices for working with individuals with IDD in health care interactions. National research has also found that primary care providers hold biases about people with disabilities and need more information and support in providing more comprehensive and equitable care for their patients who have disabilities. More importantly, the project is expected to help people with disabilities feel more seen and heard by their primary care provider.

"These videos would be great for doctors and medical students to watch. If they watch the videos closely, they could learn how to work with people with disabilities. I think others might be able to learn something from videos like this too."
-Gabe Martinez, Program Aide and Peer Mentor, Sonoran Center 

About the Continuing Education Program

With insight and guidance from a diverse group of community partners that includes self-advocates, subject matter experts in supported decision-making, guardianship, health care for underserved communities, the project team has developed a Continuing Education program with three modules that focus on different aspects of providing medical care for people with disabilities. The three topics covered by the CE program are:

1. Understanding Current Health Inequities among People with I/DD and the History of Marginalization
2. Consent and Capacity as it Relates to People with I/DD
3. Applying Supported Decision-Making in the Clinical Context

DOWNLOAD THE RESOURCE GUIDE

Continuing Education Toolkit 

The Continuing Education Toolkit was developed to provide others with information and lessons learned so that they can create similar CE courses and understand our CE development process. We encourage others to review the recommended step-by-step process based on the development of a CE course that focused on best practices for providing equitable and quality medical care for individuals with disabilities.

DOWNLOAD THE CME TOOLKIT

Project Steering Committee

Bill Thrift, MD, FAAFP, President, Board of Arizona Academy of Family Physicians
Jon Meyers, Executive Director, The Arc of Arizona
Susan Marks, JD, PhD, Attorney at Law, Susan Marks & Associates, PLLC; Professor Emeritus, Northern Arizona University
Kim Russell, Executive Director, Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care
Lorena Verdugo, President, Arizona Community Health Workers Association
Audrey Russell Kibble, DNP, FNP-C, FAANP
Purnima Madhivanan, MBBS, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor, Mel & Enid College of Public Health, University of Arizona
John Britton and Teresa Moore, Self Advocates
Vicki D. Copeland, MD, FAAFP, Medical Director, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan

Thank You to Our CE Actors! 

Monica Diaz 
Gabriel Martinez 
Katie Baldwin 
Kim Rogan

Who is leading this project?

Contact

If you have any questions, please reach out to Celina Urquidez at celinau@arizona.edu.