Beyond Olmstead: Community-Based Services for All People with Disabilities
Future Research
Participants were asked to identify priority areas for future research that would support policy development. The topics recommended by participants included:
- Data on the number of nursing home residents who could potentially relocate to the community.
- An evaluation of the results of efforts to help nursing home residents relocate to community settings.
- Quality management approaches, measuring quality and defining outcomes in home-based settings, and group and residential settings.
- Quantifying quality of life and health-related quality of life for people with disabilities.
- Importance of and linkages with housing and transportation for people who need supportive services in community settings.
- Impact of people who "age out" of programs, e.g., people transition from an Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) Plan to other programs and systems when they turn 20 or 21.
- Identification of options to address the workforce shortage and the impact of consumer-directed programs on the workforce.
- A study of people on nurses aide registries who have left the field.
- State-specific disability statistics using a common definition.
- Models for surrogate decisionmaking.
- Housing options for people with mental illness.
- Models for teaching people with disabilities how to be pro-active.
- Impact of Medicare home health changes on adults with disabilities and their ability to live in the community.
- The effects of access to transportation, social activities, and getting to work on health conditions and utilization for people with disabilities.
- Liability in consumer-directed care programs.
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)-sponsored development of Web-based tools and resource centers that also are maintained with HHS funds and available to the general public.
- HHS-sponsored development of tools to provide States free of charge:
- An electronic medical and social record that could be used by all players involved in the delivery of services and supports to children and adults with special health care needs.
- Tools for self-management of chronic illness with comorbidities. Use Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data for disabilities and conditions based on age (working age 18-64).
- Research on long-term care needs and supports for Hispanic persons, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans. There appears to be little if any interest in State-sponsored programs that take these differences into account or even reach out to these communities.
- Conduct in an in-depth review of all Medicaid eligibility rules with an eye toward simplification and to respond more realistically to the program goals in the current environment and for the future. What can be done through creative interpretation and legislation.
- Propose legislation to consolidate funding streams to more rationally address long-term care needs of our citizens.
Current as of July 2002
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Internet Citation:
Beyond Olmstead: Community-Based Services for All People with Disabilities. July 2002. Workshop Brief, User Liaison Program. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/ulp/olmstead/olmstd.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850