A new grant awarded to a Pitt Nursing Assistant Professor will help improve the experiences of individuals with developmental disabilities by hiring navigators who also have developmental disabilities to guide them through the often-complex healthcare system.
“The end goal is to have participants more satisfied with their healthcare experiences and more confident in their ability to advocate for themselves,” said Daniel Wilkenfeld, PhD. “I think this would be a great way to help people with developmental disabilities help themselves and each other and provide employment opportunities. My ultimate hope is to scale up the project.”
Wilkenfeld was awarded a $50,000 grant through the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation to fund the project Developmental Disability Navigators.
“The current plan is to train navigators in what accommodations are available and how to use participants’ available communication modalities to ask for them, though the exact details might vary based on a focus group I intend to run (in January),” he said.
The project is funded through the end of 2024.