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The National
Council on Disability (NCD) has a cooperative agreement with the
Health and Disability Working Group (HDWG) at the Boston University
School of Public Health to research current health care reforms
and practices that promote consumer-oriented and consumer-driven
health care for people with disabilities.
The purpose
of this research is to identify best-evidence or emerging-evidence
practices and to contribute to knowledge about the factors that
facilitate or impede the implementation of these practices. The
HDWG will gather comprehensive information about:
- Laws and
regulations that promote consumer-oriented reforms and practices,
- Current
programs and practices that are documented to be effective or
show promise but have not yet been well evaluated,
- The extent
to which these practices have been implemented, circumstances
under which they have been implemented, and populations to which
they have been targeted, and
- Factors
that affect their replication and dissemination.
Understanding
best practices in consumer-directed and consumer-oriented care is
not an end in itself, but a means to improve outcomes among individuals
with disabilities. In our view, the ultimate goals of this effort
are:
- To expand
opportunities for independence, social integration, and quality
of life for individuals with disabilities, through reduced institutionalization
and greater access to flexible supports;
- To maximize
autonomy among individuals with disabilities in regard to health
and related services; and
- To ensure
that systems of care at the federal, state and local levels, include
the full range of services to meet the varied needs and preferences
of consumers with disabilities.
The primary
product of this effort will be a report to NCD containing recommendations
regarding steps that could be taken to promote consumer-oriented
health care practices. It will include recommendations regarding:
- The enforcement,
modification, or expansion of existing laws or regulations that
promote consumer-oriented health care or consumer-directed long
term care;
- Policies,
programs and practices that have been documented as being effective
in promoting consumer-oriented health care or consumer-directed
long term care that policy-makers might consider funding or promoting;
- Findings
concerning potential impact of proposals for restructuring the
Medicaid and Medicare programs on uptake of effective strategies;
and
- Additional
core research issues that need to be addressed.
While this
report will focus on effective strategies available to public sector
programs, we will also identify consumer-oriented strategies that
could be adopted by health plans or other private sector agencies
in our report to NCD.
HDWG staff involved
in this project are Carol Tobias,
M.M.H.S., Deborah Allen, Ph.D., Kate
Brown, B.A., Regina Murphy, B.A.,
Kate Tierney, B.A., and
Sarah DuRei, B.A. |
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