AUCD Executive Director, Andy Imparato, shared information with RIIC staff and partners.

Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) board members traveled to Missoula, Montana for their annual ‘out in the field’ meeting in June. Rural Institute staff appreciated the opportunity to discuss rural issues with board members from around the country. Staff members took advantage of additional time to visit with national colleagues. Community partners had an opportunity to network with local, regional and national counterparts. It was a busy week!

Dr. Martin Blair, Executive Director of the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities and team of pediatricians received a Phase 1 award for the U. S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s Care Coordination for Children with Special Health Care Needs Challenge. According to the release from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the award offers the opportunity to compete for additional funds to develop “technology-based solutions to help families of CSHCN (children with special health care needs) coordinate the care their children receive from a variety of health care professionals and specialists”.

The University of Montana’s Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities announces the reopening of the Montana Family to Family Health Information Center (F2F- HIC) in summer 2019. The parent-led Family to Family initiative will improve access to and sharing of evidence-based health information so parents and families of children and youth with complex health needs and health care providers can make informed health care choices.

This year, six Utah Regional Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (URLEND) students from Montana completed training in family-centered care for children and youth with special health care needs. URLEND students from five states (Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota) met weekly via video conference to learn how they can provide optimal services to children and adolescents with special health care needs. The Rural Institute is committed to being a ‘satellite’ partner of the URLEND program to educate professionals about the issues surrounding disability.

The URLEND graduates learned about the importance of the family-professional partnership, health equity across the lifespan, the use of evidence-based practice, interprofessional team building, historical and intergenerational trauma and resilience among Native Americans, and how to work within communities and systems.