Most of us have heard of the aging baby boomers, and have seen the rising population curve that shows how many of us will turn 65 and older over the next few decades.  The word on the street is that 10,000 Americans will turn 65 every day.  The image raises questions about security in the older years, caregiving for loved ones that are elderly, health care, employment, housing, transportation, acquired disability due to aging, the limited direct care workforce available to provide quality care, and the risks associated with each of these issues down the line.  For The Arc and those we represent, the aging issue brings about another unique dimension:  aging people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Recently I drove through the heartland of America on a few less-traveled roads.  Small towns drifted past my view.  In those towns lived a community of people of all ages, some of them I’m guessing were older, even elderly.  Statistics insist that people with I/DD represent up to 4% of the total US population.  So I do the math, and figure that even small towns have the likelihood of having someone in their community with I/DD of any age.

People with I/DD are also part of the baby boom scenario, in that they, too are growing older.  This group of older individuals with I/DD is virtually invisible to the general population.  Many have lived with their even older parents, often tucked away from the larger society.  Research shows that many people with I/DD have significant health disparities – obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and dementia to name a few- some of which unfortunately result in an unnecessarily shorter life span.  The Centers for Disease Control is attending to this issue as a priority, as is The Arc with its new CDC-funded HealthMeet initiative to promote health for people with I/DD.

This leads me to some questions: what do people with I/DD do when their own elderly parents leave the home for assisted care, or die?  What happens to the person with I/DD if families don’t have a future transition plan in place?  What if they don’t have other family members or a local service provider willing to take over support responsibilities? How is the response system prepared to address a traumatic transition during an emotionally traumatic time, and in a way that accommodates and supports the person with I/DD?   How is the medical profession prepared to address age-related disabilities in the context of someone with I/DD?  How is The Arc working with families and communities to respond to these unique issues?

Knowing that the Chapters of The Arc are the foundation of innovative and effective solutions, I invite you to send me a description of what your Chapter is doing in aging services for people with I/DD.  Send me stories of how your program has changed the life of someone that is older for the better, or if you are a family member of or an older person that identifies as having an intellectual or developmental disability that has experienced a positive outcome from a local Chapter, send me your story.  You can write me at research@thearc.org.

I look forward to hearing from you.

You may have heard the good news in August that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) awarded The Arc a three-year cooperative agreement to raise awareness of and reduce the significant health disparities often experienced by people with intellectual disabilities, including those with autism. We aim to do this through offering free health screening events for people with ID, collecting and evaluating the health screening data, and launching an amazing array of evidenced-based and best practices training for key stakeholders, including people with ID.

The Arc has one million dollars to work with in this first year of the project.  And one year to make an incredible impact.

Imagine someone with an intellectual disability going through a health screening to discover that they have an undetected health issue, like high blood pressure, an infected tooth, or an untreated issue on the bottom of their foot.  Or maybe it’s a hearing problem or blurry vision that shows up in the screening.  Health professional volunteers conducting these screenings will help identify areas of concern, and staff from Chapters of The Arc will be on site to provide information, referrals, and linkages to local doctors.  This effort will be among the first to collect HIPAA-compliant health data on this population, data that will help bring more awareness and solutions to health issues that they face.

So what is our plan?  Our goal: to move more than 6,000 people with ID of all ages through a basic, free, non-invasive health screening that is conducted by volunteer health professionals such as nurses or medical students.  The CDC helped The Arc to shape the plan that focuses on five selected states/regions in which to work on implementing HealthMeet™ initiatives in this first year.  Working in a pilot phase with an eye towards replication opportunities, The Arc will be working with The Arc of Massachusetts, The Arc San Francisco, The Arc New Jersey, ACHIEVA in Pittsburgh, PA, and The Arc of North Carolina.  Together, we will implement and evaluate five different models and the work has already begun.

We are working with some amazing national partners – the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), Autism Speaks, the National Down Syndrome Congress, and the National Association of County and City Health Professionals.  Therap LLC is helping us to collect the data using state of the art technology, and the Elizabeth Boggs Center in New Jersey is helping with the data evaluation.  We are in discussions with major corporations to see how they can lend a helping hand to this important initiative.  The Arc’s own National Self Advocacy Council is involved in getting their growing network of people with intellectual disabilities involved.

We’re going to need your help.  As these Chapters of The Arc work within their states to implement HealthMeets™ early in 2013, we want our network and our national partners to activate a HealthMeet™ movement in these states.  There’s going to be online training that you can register for, learn from, and pass along to someone else.  There might be someone you can help by getting involved yourself as a volunteer.

You’ll be hearing more and more about HealthMeet™ as we advance towards full implementation.  We can all take part in activities that lead to being healthy.  Join us!

HealthMeet™ is funded by the Centers for Disease Control Grant # 1U59DD000993-01.  For more information, please contact The Arc of the United States at 202-534-3700 or at info@thearc.org.  Or, visit our website at www.thearc.org for project information.