Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Beyond Representation: Partnerships, Intersectionality, And The Centering Of The Disability, Family, And Community Lived Experience, Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenburg Phd, Julieta Hernandez Phd, Lcsw, Douglene Jackson Phd, Otr/L, Faota

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a public health crisis, overlaying the disparities in healthcare access, treatment, and outcomes that were already prevalent in Black and Latino communities across the U.S., particularly persons with disabilities (PWD) at the intersection of racial and ethnic identities. In addition, the concurrent social and political climate mirrored the pandemic in its action of magnifying existing systemic inequities for historically marginalized populations, calling for institutions to galvanize efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (EDI). Our University Center on Excellence in Disabilities (UCEDD) serves a range of families whose children have disabilities or complex health care needs and …