

The DOC appointed a Center staff member to be part of the Washington State DOC ADA Steering Committee to review any related ADA issues, progress, and improvement projects. The Northwest ADA Center provides ongoing technical assistance and consultation to the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) via phone and in-person meetings. Partnership with Washington State Department of Corrections Activities include, building partnerships and presenting at conferences, such as the Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and the National Council on Aging (NCOA). Additionally, the Center has partnered with the Northeast ADA Center and the Great Lakes ADA Center to coordinate an Aging Committee with the ADA National Network. Such partnerships include the Community Living Connections Network (the Washington chapter of Aging and Disability Resource Centers) and the Northwest Alliance of Information and Referrals Systems. The Northwest ADA Center is building partnerships with organizations that provide services to older adults in an effort to provide ADA technical assistance and knowledge. It’s critical that this growing population, and the people who serve them, understand the rights afforded to older adults who experience disabilities and functional limitations when accessing their communities. Many aging “baby-boomers” are beginning to experience age-onset disabilities. Partnerships with Aging and Disability Service Organizations
Region x training code#
These checklists incorporate the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design, as well as state-specific code requirements.Īdditionally, the Center collaborates with the Pacific ADA Center, the Southeast ADA Center, and the Rocky Mountain ADA Center as part of the Accessible Healthcare Committee with the ADA National Network to support outreach to stakeholders and training through the Pacific ADA Center’s Accessible Healthcare Webinar Series. The Center has been creating individualized Accessibility Checklists for Medical Clinics and Facilities in each of the regional states. The Northwest ADA Center has engaged with the Learning Collaborative to Address Disability Equity in Healthcare (LEADERs) project - a sustainable learning collaborative of disability access coordinators, patients with disabilities and their caregivers, and researchers whose work aims to ensure equitable care to patients with disabilities. The focus is to begin developing methods for engaging, connecting, and developing training tools to be used in the healthcare industry. The Northwest ADA Center has begun establishing a facilitated community of practice in each state for ADA Coordinators, healthcare professionals, advocates, and people with disabilities who have a role in ensuring equal access to healthcare for people with disabilities. These results support the need for further investigation into the physical, programmatic, and communication barriers to healthcare access for individuals with disabilities with a focus on individuals with disabilities who experience social and health disparities resulting from multiple factors. Individuals had difficulties entering and/or moving around in healthcare facilities had difficulties with or were unable to use medical diagnostic equipment, exam tables, or exam chairs in their healthcare appointments and had difficulties with or did not receive interpreter services. Results indicated that many of these individuals experienced physical, programmatic, and communication barriers to healthcare.

To characterize the existing evidence on healthcare access in the context of Titles II and III of the ADA,.In 2017, the Northwest ADA Center initiated a five-year study implemented in three phases with the following three aims: As part of the 2016-2021 grant cycle, the Northwest ADA Center is conducting a five-year research project to identify existing evidence of healthcare access and the ADA, explore barriers experienced by individuals with disabilities in accessing healthcare in the Northwest Region, and identify effective approaches in ADA implementation to reduce these barriers. Healthcare access for individuals with disabilities is a national priority in the effort to eliminate health disparities. Healthcare Access: Research, Communities of Practice, and Checklists The Northwest ADA Center serves Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
