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The Best of our Abilities
Health System teams with campus to ensure equal access for the disabled

Fellow Travelers(Top) Gerald Hoff, Christa Moran, Margaret Hough, (bottom) Diane Achatz and Anna Schnitzer are advocates for disability concerns at U-M Health System.

Those of us who work at the hospital and health centers see firsthand that many of our patients are disabled—whether they use a wheelchair, push an oxygen tank or walk with a leader dog. There are ramps, videophones and other accommodations in our buildings that meet the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. But can we do more?

The U-M Council for Disability Concerns is a group of volunteers—a cross collaboration between the Health System, campus and the public—that speaks out on issues related to disabilities, working to ensure that everyone at U-M has full access to what we have to offer.

“We want people to understand what our customer is going through,” says Gerald Hoff, an insurance representative at UMHS and CFDC member. “Accessibility is a major issue.”

Non-Clinical Staff Involved

Fellow TravelersThe third annual Tip-Off Event wheelchair basketball game was part of the Investing in Abilities Week sponsored by the U-M Council for Disability Concerns.Hoff joined the CFDC four years ago because a back injury prevented him from a career in occupational therapy. He turned to a career in insurance verification instead, but was left with the desire to help others.

“Having a physical injury made me relate to people with pain,” Hoff says. He has a family member with multiple sclerosis and a daughter recovering from a traumatic brain injury. He sees disability concerns as an area that needs awareness. He plans the annual Investing in Abilities Week and coordinates a wheelchair basketball game to demonstrate what people with disabilities can do.

Reaching out to Patients

Diane Achatz, R.N., works on 5C, in Acute Care Surgery Transplant, GI and Urology, and is committed to the educational needs of visually impaired kidney transplant patients. Her goal is to equalize the learning experiences for patients with limited vision.

“I hope we will continue to find assistive devices that make it easier for those with visual impairment to learn about their care,” she says.

Achatz also regularly encounters patients with difficult urologic issues. She planned an event on Shy Bladder Syndrome at Investing in Abilities week, featuring Joseph Himle, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry. She also coordinated an event on autism, featuring Richard Solomon, M.D., medical director, The Ann Arbor Center for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

Helping Staff get back to Work

Best of our Abilities“Dogs, Dogs, Dogs” is a CFDC event where people learn about the services dogs provide to the disabled. Margaret Hough, human resources consultant, has been interested in helping the disabled for years. Her sister is deaf and graduated from the U-M School of Nursing. Hough coordinates a multidisciplinary team working to provide accommodations for disabled employees off work who want to return.

“The CFDC offers opportunities for identifying shared goals and collaborating across departments and campuses,” Hough says. “I’m hopeful we’ll continue to grow with the support of the University.”

 

 

 

A Disability Champion

Best of our AbilitiesTo help promote awareness of disability issues, the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching’s CRLT Players depict an instructor and students struggling with many issues, stereotypes and dynamics surrounding visible and hidden disabilities on campus.

Working on the CFDC is strictly voluntary, but for Anna Ercoli Schnitzer, a reference librarian at the Health Sciences Libraries, helping the disabled is a passion.

“Ten years ago, someone asked me to speak about what the library did for people with disabilities,” she says. “I was so interested in the topic and the issues that I kept coming back.”

Schnitzer leads the Neubacher Award Committee, which recognizes employees who work to help the disabled. She coordinates “Dogs, Dogs, Dogs,” an event for people to learn the value of dogs to the disabled. Schnitzer also won the Health System’s 2008 Laurita Thomas Diversity Champion Award. - BJ

Best of our Abilities

Best of Our Abilities

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