News and Notes 515 June 8

birgitta.chaiken - Wed, 06/08/2022 - 12:15

In observance of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month; organized by the National Center for PTSD at the Department of Veterans Affairs, NARIC has assembled a list of resources from the NIDILRR community and elsewhere to help people with PTSD connect with support at home, at work or school, and in their communities; This Just In... presents a study examining the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults with physical disabilities from marginalized communities in southeastern Michigan; the project on Building Capacity to Improve Community Participation for People Aging with Long-Term Disability Through Evidence-Based Strategies publishes infographic, Diversity of Disability Pathways for Middle-Aged Adults: Implications for Services and Supports; Rocky Mountain Regional ADA Center Specialist joins fellow members of the US Olympic and Panolympic teams for celebration at the White House; Principal Investigator for the Learning and Working During the Transition to Adulthood Rehabilitation Research and Training Center was interviewed for latest episode of the Mary Christie Institute's Quadcast, focused on college student behavioral health and wellbeing; the Great Lakes ADA Regional Center to host webinar, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator: Getting the Job Done; the Administration on Disabilities at the Administration for Community Living (ACL) seeks peer reviewers with disabilities for a variety of grant competitions; the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor publishes new resources to help workers understand their rights to take leave for serious mental health conditions and help employers comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  

Date sent: 
2022-06-08
NARIC news: 

June is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month, organized by the National Center for PTSD at the Department of Veterans Affairs. PTSD is a mental health condition that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, such as combat, an accident, a disaster, or an assault. Recent events like the COVID pandemic and episodes of violence in the community could trigger PTSD. PTSD can be a disabling mental health condition for some individuals and it can affect many areas of life. We assembled a list of resources from the NIDILRR community and elsewhere, along with recent research, to help people with PTSD connect with support at home, at work or school, and in their communities.

This Just In: 
Fear, isolation, and invisibility during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study of adults with physical disabilities in marginalized communities in southeastern Michigan in the United States. Disabilities, Volume 2(1), Pgs. 119-130. NARIC Accession Number: J88520.
New to the NARIC collection, this NIDILRR-funded study examined the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults with moderate-to-severe physical disabilities from marginalized communities in southeastern Michigan--one of the early pandemic epicenters in the United States. Three interrelated, overarching themes emerged from semi-structured interviews including fear, feelings of isolation, and a sense of being invisible-- in the contexts of health and healthcare, home care assistance, and access to resources. The findings help illuminate the experiences of those from socioeconomically and racially marginalized communities, and made visible the negative impact of the pandemic on physical and mental health as well as the lack of accommodations available. They also showed that participants were faced with a dilemma between engaging in risky behavior to have their needs met or avoiding risk and not have those needs met. Access the full abstract and ordering information in REHABDATA.
 
Resource Highlight: 
Infographic: Diversity of Disability Pathways for Middle-Aged Adults
The NIDILRR-funded project Building Capacity to Improve Community Participation for People Aging with Long-Term Disability Through Evidence-Based Strategies (90DPCP0001) published an infographic, Diversity of Disability Pathways for Middle-Aged Adults: Implications for Services and Supports (PDF). The infographic explains how age of disability onset and primary cause of disability relate to social contexts, health, personal service use, and barriers to participation.
 
News items: 
Rocky Mountain ADA Center Specialist Joins White House Paralympic Celebrations
Chris Murphy, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Specialist with the NIDILRR-funded Rocky Mountain ADA Regional Center (90DPAD0009), joined fellow members of the US Olympic and Paralympic teams for a celebration at the White House in May. Mr. Murphy, who is also a member of the Paracycling National Team, detailed the event for the center's Access Granted blog, including the efforts of the White House staff to ensure the event and accommodations were fully accessible to all participants.
 
NIDILRR Researcher Interviewed for Quadcast
Maryann Davis, PhD, Principal Investigator for the NIDILRR-funded Learning and Working During the Transition to Adulthood Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (90RTEM0005) was interviewed for the latest episode of The Quadcast, the Mary Christie Institute's podcast focused on college student behavioral health and wellbeing. Dr. Davis discussed the challenges students with mental illness face in their journey towards a college degree and how community members, particularly faculty, can better understand and support these students. She highlighted the center's video series The College Faculty Guide to Academic Supports for College Students with Serious Mental Health Conditions.
 
Grantee event: 
Webinar: ADA Coordinator – Getting the Job Done
The NIDILRR-funded Great Lakes ADA Regional Center (90DPAD0012) will host a webinar, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator: Getting the Job Done, June 21st, 2 – 3:30 pm ET. Presenters will discuss how to get started as an ADA Coordinator, common challenges and strategies to address them, effective collaboration with community partners, and more. Presenters will focus on the role of the ADA coordinator in state and local governments, but the principles may be applied to the work of an ADA coordinator working for any type of organization. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions after the presentation. Continuing education credits are available upon request. Registration is free and required.
 
Elsewhere in the Community: 
Administration on Disabilities Seeks Grant Reviewers with Disabilities
The Administration on Disabilities at the Administration for Community Living (ACL) seeks peer reviewers with disabilities for a variety of grant competitions. Reviewers will be responsible for attending virtual reviewer training, independently reviewing and scoring assigned grant applications in an online system, participating in one or more conference calls with other reviewers to discuss their independent application reviews, and submitting final scores and comments by the deadline. Reviewers will be paid a stipend for completing the mentioned tasks. To be considered as a reviewer, interested parties must create an account in the Reviewer Recruitment Module and upload their CVs or resumes.
 
DOL's New Resources Spotlight Mental Health Leave
The Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor published new resources to help workers understand their rights to take leave for serious mental health conditions and to help employers better understand how to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These new resources include a collection of frequently asked questions covering different scenarios and a factsheet on mental health and FMLA. The resources also include links to the Office of Disability Employment Policy's Mental Health at Work Campaign and the Campaign for Disability Employment.
 
Archive link: 
http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=654309&f=1190&s=26993&m=932704&t=635cba0a9267f719dd304fcd1ae764b160681b0bc4432192fe4b80b0dffecb7c