Improving Health of People with Intellectual Disabilities Program

by: Iola Bonggay

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, otherwise referred to as CDC, is a federal government agency operating within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that is greatly responsible for protecting public health and safety through the provision of information to enhance health decisions and the promotion of health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations.

The grants and initiatives of the CDC are all geared towards the realization of its general agency mission which is to collaborate with other agencies "to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health – through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats."

In keeping with this mission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has constituted the Improving Health of People with Intellectual Disabilities Program in an attempt to financially support initiatives for people suffering from intellectual disabilities, thereby seeking to increase healthy behaviors and improve access to appropriate health services.

The program also intends to identify comorbid conditions and a number of poor healthy behaviors in people with intellectual disability (ID) to in order to somehow find a way to reduce or totally eliminate these behaviors and make way for better health practices.

Initially, the program is set to focus primarily on US populations but could also extend its activities internationally. By the end of the tenure of the grant, the recipient should have accomplished the following program objectives:

a) Provide health assessments, referral to services, and education to people with ID;

b) Provide health promotion training, information, and encouragement to people with ID and, when appropriate, their caregivers or service providers;

c) Train health care professionals to develop improved skills in their care of people with ID;

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Improving Health of People with Intellectual Disabilities Program
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About The Author Iola Bonggay is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs. She also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.

Additional Resources

category - Health Grants

Health Resources and Services Administration: Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) Program
The THCGME program provides payments to cover the cost of brand-new residency and dentistry programs in various community-based and ambulatory primary health care settings, such as health centers.

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Lifespan Respite Care Program - Technical Assistance Resource Center
In keeping with this mission, the Administration on Aging has recently announced the constitution of the Lifespan Respite Care Program - Technical Assistance Resource Center wherein it aims to invite applications for a competitive grant opportunity for implementing the requirements of the Technical Assistance Resource Center (TARC) as authorized in the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006.

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National Science Foundation's Smart Health and Wellbeing Program
The National Science Foundation has constituted the development of the Smart Health and Wellbeing (SHB) Program wherein they intend to address scientific and technical issues that would pave the way towards the transformation of the healthcare process from being rather reactive and hospital centered into becoming preventive, proactive, evidence-based, patient-centered and focused on the wellbeing of the person rather than his/her disease.

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National Institutes of Health funds the Improving Adherence to Treatment Regimens for HIV-Positive Adolescents and Young Adults
The National Institutes of Health has recently established a program entitled Improving Adherence to Treatment Regimens for HIV-Positive Adolescents and Young Adults wherein they intend to kick-off research studies that will create, implement, and evaluate both old and new interventions that are geared towards improving adherence to medical and behavioral regimens for HIV-positive adolescents which are 11 to 21 years old and adults who are 21 to 24 years old.

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