Rose News
Top Universities Join Forces to Improve Healthcare Access for America’s Disabled Adults
Engineering teams from Santa Clara University and public health students and graduates of Texas A&M have joined forces to tackle the ever increasing crisis of lack of accessibility for programs and services to assist our disabled adult population!
Over the last 10 years, Rose has dedicated its efforts to improve accessibility of healthcare services for the disabled population in the global South. This year, we decided it was time to turn our focus inwards to address the growing need for improving access to resources for the vulnerable and oppressed, disabled population right here in America. According to the CDC, 27% of America’s adult population has some form of disability. Programs abound for disabled children, but once they reach the age of 18 most programs stop. Where does the disabled adult go for help?
The project actually began last year when a group of Santa Clara University Engineering Grad Students began work on a resource application program that could provide a library of service entities that offer support for the disabled adult living in America.
The app is just about complete and will be turned over to our partners at Texas A&M University where a group of students will begin the laborious task of compiling a massive database of services for the state of Texas.
To head up this new program, we have appointed Kimberly Gutierrez, MPH, as Rose’s Texas State Representative. Kimberly is an MPH graduate of Texas A&M School of Public Health and is currently employed by the Department of Health and Human Services in San Antonio. Her knowledge and expertise in epidemiology, public health and biostatistics are attributes that will guide us as we develop this new program.
We asked Kimberly why she was excited to work with Rose on this project, she quickly answered:
“I know when I work with Rose Academies I will be making an impact outside my immediate community and will be helping people who are often overlooked and underserved by social services and resources.”
Beautifully stated Kimberly! We know that there is a lot of work to be done, but with Kimberly’s guidance, help from students and faculty, we are confident that we can close the gap of inaccessible healthcare information for those who are in desperate need of help. If you are interested in helping us to develop this library of resources, please contact: susan@roseacademies.org.