Attitude
Our success in these arenas has hinged on our willingness to do everything.
As one surveys the landscape for Americans with ND/ID seeking quality healthcare, it is clear that the challenges they face are daunting. In almost every arena – healthcare access, medical and dental education, medical and dental research, public policy – more needs to be done to resolve the problems encountered by this population of Americans. Why, then, in this environment, has the CHYRON Group begun to realize such significant successes? Dr. Hood has often said, “Our success in these arenas has hinged on our willingness to do everything.”
The CHYRON Group understands that there is a health care access crisis facing Americans with ND/ID, so we begin by first establishing the clinical infrastructure necessary to deliver desperately needed healthcare. We also understand that success in the long term must involve teaching young medical and dental students – tomorrow’s doctors - to care for this population; so, in partnership with the AADMD, we establish and promote teaching programs for predoctoral and postgraduate clinicians, and we create the curriculum for those teaching programs. Additionally, we know, from personal experience, that there are multiple clinical problems that clinicians serving this population encounter on a daily basis, which must be overcome; so, we create patient-centered research programs focused on solving these specific, quality of care problems. Finally, we understand clearly that advocacy must be a critical component in any successful strategy; so, we willingly add our voices to those in positions of political leadership who are working tirelessly to promote change.
The model
Contributing to our success is the functional and operational nature of the model itself. The functional integrity of the UDDP is derived from its fundamental independence of the affiliate University and state government. By operating independently, the program can deftly, and with maximum cost-effectiveness and flexibility, adapt to the changes and the demands of an evolving and dynamic program.
Alliances
With an innovative program model in place, and buoyed by the successes of our pilot project, we are willingly joining forces with governors, legislators and advocates across the country, who share our goal of improving the quality of care and, thus, the quality of life for Americans with disabilities.