Health and Disability Partnership

We were created by the Health and Disability Program (HDP). It is co-chaired by:

• Bethlyn Houlihan, of the New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center
• Dennis Heaphy, of the Disability Policy Consortium

Mission and work

The Partnership meets quarterly. We inform and strengthen HDP’s priorities and initiatives. This ensures that HDP activities are carried out in the spirit of “nothing about us without us”.

We have been helpful to HDP in:

• Gathering data and prioritizing issues for HDP’s statewide health needs assessment of people with disabilities and their care providers
• Keeping HDP aware of important concerns in the disability community
• Collaborating to make the best use of people and resources
• Including people with disabilities in emergency preparedness efforts
• Improving facility and communications access to health care providers
• Promoting the work of HDP within the disability community
• Helping develop logic models and workplans for HDP activities
• Bringing accessible, culturally competent health promotion and disease management programs to people with disabilities
• Planning for the sustainability of HDP and Partnership activities beyond the current grant cycle