ADA National Network Learning Session: Challenges and Opportunities: Lessons Learned from ADA Coordinators Working within Diverse Healthcare Organizations

A growing number of healthcare organizations are hiring fulltime ADA Coordinators. It is unknown how ADA Coordinators are integrated into healthcare organizations, including what types of roles and responsibilities they have and the types of initiatives they lead. The presentation will present findings from interviews with ADA Coordinators who represent 20 healthcare systems across the country. Specifically, we will present findings on the job titles and duties ADA Coordinators have, the types of initiatives they lead, how they collaborate with groups within and outside of their healthcare systems, their budgetary supports and constraints, and ongoing challenges they experience.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

• Describe the types of initiatives and activities ADA coordinators lead in healthcare organizations
• Identify different types of models healthcare organizations have for supporting ADA coordinators and disability accessibility initiatives
• Understand the major challenges ADA coordinators encounter working within healthcare organizations

Presenters:

Megan Morris, PhD, MPH, CCC-SLP is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine in the Department of Medicine at University of Colorado, Anschutz. Her research focuses on provider and healthcare organization-level factors that negatively impact the quality of care delivered to patients with disabilities. Dr. Morris is founder and director of the Disability Equity Collaborative (disabilityequitycollaborative.org).

Steven Lockhart, MPH is a Senior Professional Research Assistant in the Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research Core at the Adult and Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS). He has worked closely with Dr. Morris on multiple studies focused on improving health outcomes for patients with disabilities in the healthcare setting.