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IHPP in 2023
The past year of The Inclusive Healthcare Partnership Project had us going out into the community more and even had us venturing outside of Vermont!
We’re already a couple of months into 2024… We can hardly believe it!
IHPP directors Teppi, Kirsten M., and Kirsten I. outside of the airport in Puerto Rico.
The past year of The Inclusive Healthcare Partnership Project had us going out into the community more and even had us venturing outside of Vermont!
We ran focus groups with some amazing self-advocates at Families First in Brattleboro and Green Mountain Self Advocates in Montpelier.
We tabled and spoke at the Voices and Choices conference, UVM’s Health Equity Summit, and The Community Health Education Fair at the Vermont Statehouse. We shared a virtual presentation at Graphic Medicine Toronto.
The biggest and coolest thing we got to do all year was going to PUERTO RICO for this year’s International Conference on Communication in Healthcare. At ICCH, we had the opportunity to run a workshop about plain language in health communication and gave a lightning talk about the concept of graphic medicine and how we use it in our project.
Kirsten M. at the mic during our workshop at ICCH 2024.
A multi-lingual focus group with IHPP and self-advocates from Puerto Rico.
We also had the very cool opportunity to connect with Liz, the executive director of the Department of Disabilities in Puerto Rico and run a focus group with their self-advocates.
We used a live translator through Zoom to help with the language difference. Technology is amazing!
During some down time, Liz gave us a tour of San Juan — including a stop at the place that Piña Coladas were invented.
The IHPP team on their way to get a Piña Colada at the Barrachina Restaurant in San Juan.
We loved connecting with Liz, our Puerto Rican self-advocates, and our peers at the International Communication in Healthcare.
We’re excited for what 2024 has in store for us!
Graphic Medicine and Voices and Choices Recap
Self-Advocates during the IHPP workshop at The Voices and Choices Conference in South Burlington, VT.
We’ve been busy at IHPP over the last few months! We presented at two conferences, The Graphic Medicine Conference in Toronto and Voices and Choices in South Burlington.
At Voices and Choices, we ran a really fun workshop called “Disability Doodles.” Here is the description:
Spend time with cartoon artist, Teppi Zuppo. Learn how self-advocates can make drawings to show doctors how they are feeling. Use shapes, colors and words to describe what is happening in your body. You do not need to know how to draw. Draw your health story and map your body. It is fun and easy.
This workshop was led by IHPP Directors, Teppi Zuppo and Kirsten Isgro, and Self-Advocates, Lisa Rudiakov and Levi Gardner. Thank you Lisa and Levi for your help!! You both are awesome!!
A group of self-advocates doodling on a life-sized “body map” during the workshop.
Our table at The Voices and Choices Conference!
We also presented a lightning talk at this year’s Graphic Medicine Conference. It was presented by several members of our team - Kirsten Murphy, Kristen Isgro, Teppi Zuppo, Kristy Trask, and Jenny Rainville.
Here is the description:
Addressing the health disparities of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Vermont with Graphic Medicine:
The Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council (VTDDC) and the Green Mountain Self-Advocates (GMSA) are organizations addressing critical issues affecting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families/caregivers. Intellectual and developmental disabilities are those conditions that affect how the brain, spinal cord and nervous system function and can impact the trajectory of one’s physical, cognitive and/or emotional development. Vermonters with I/DD are a medically underserved population and often are at higher risk of cancer and other diseases for various reasons, as documented in a 2018 brief published by the Vermont Department of Health. In 2015, VTDCC initiated the Inclusive Healthcare Partnership Project (IHPP) to insert the medical needs of people with I/DD into state and national healthcare policy reform discussions. The Inclusive Healthcare Partnership Project is co-led by the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council and Green Mountain Self-Advocates, with the goals of improving health literacy among adults with developmental disabilities and increasing provider confidence in delivering healthcare to this population using graphic medicine. The IHPP currently is developing graphic guides to health topics for people with I/DD on a wide range of topics such as: mental health, patient rights, long COVID and dental care. Through the use of plain language and graphic medicine, this multi-year project aims to improve the healthcare experience of Vermonters with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The panelists offer a wide range of expertise to discuss how the IHPP functions and creates health information useful to this marginalized and underserved population.
You can watch our presentation here:
IHPP at Voices and Choices 2023
The Inclusive Healthcare Partnership Project (IHPP) will distribute its first set of plain language health information materials at the Voices and Choices Self-Advocacy Conference at Burlington’s DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, April 25-26, 2023. IHPP will have a display table at the conference with copies of free booklets, posters, and handouts about breast health, pelvic exams, and patient rights. Members of the IHPP team will also lead an interactive workshop with self-advocates to learn more about the challenges they face when receiving health services.
The IHPP was created by the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, in collaboration with Green Mountain Self-Advocates. IHPP uses cartoon illustrations and plain language to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have the information they need to take charge of their own health.
Members of the IHPP Team look forward to talking with self-advocates and support providers who stop by the IHPP display table at Voices and Choices.