Beyond Hartford

AADMD Presidential Perspective

By Dr. Seth Keller, AADMD President

Dear Friends,

The AADMD will celebrate its 10 year anniversary next year. 10 years may not seem like a lot of time, but for those who have been involved in the academy and ND/ID healthcare in general for a number of years will appreciate exactly the significance of this achievement. Looking back will help keep in perspective our future.

Decades ago not many imagined and considered the various health issues for those adults with IDD, early intervention, and maternal fetal health were priorities. As the population aged and advances in health care took root, the attention towards the aging ND/ID population didn’t grow quick enough to catch up with the demand. In 2002 Surgeon General David Satcher created a report Closing the Gap: A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of Persons with Mental Retardation. An amazing number of highly dedicated individuals from different backgrounds and from different disciplines had attended the Surgeons General conference the year before to help lay the basis for this report. One of the obvious needs from this report was for the creation of a focus towards the healthcare needs for adults.

The Surgeons Generals report was only able to point out the obvious disparities in healthcare, but it would take the conviction and courage of individuals to step up and begin to make a difference. The AADMD was not created out of a university or strictly academic exercise, but from the vision and leadership of a number of passionate individuals who did attend the 2001 meeting as a grass roots effort.

The model to create the AADMD was built out of necessity, but the scope of its mission needed to evolve. Bringing together oral and medical care into one framework had never been successfully done before. The health challenges of oral care was deemed essential to add to general healthcare practices because of the obvious interconnection that oral health can have upon general medical health, and vice versa.

The early years of the academy were key in bringing structure and a clarity of purpose. Secondarily, the growth of the academy was always a challenge because so few healthcare providers were predominantly focusing their practices on adults with ND/ID. We knew that the politics and financial support for practitioners would be a barrier towards growth and therefore further add to the national healthcare disparity dilemma.

In the last few years the AADMD has made tremendous strides towards meeting it mission; improving the overall health of individuals with ND/ID through patient care, teaching, research and advocacy. In 2010 the Health Disparities Consensus statement was created. A great number of national and state DD agencies endorsed this document. This pivotal document helped to further instill the notion that values and appropriate care practices must be created and maintained. The collaboration amongst these various groups helped to further set the current level of tremendous respect and cooperation that would be needed to continue the fight towards reducing health disparities.

These relationships also helped to define and create the academy’s role as a leader in the National Curricular Initiative in Developmental Medicine, the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices project, ND/ID healthcare Webinars, and as a partner with the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities.

The recent highly successful annual meeting in Hartford Connecticut held in conjunction with our friends in the DDNA is now a springboard to our future. The AADMD is now considered one of the top national healthcare organizations in respect to the issues of adult healthcare in those with IDD. We cannot take this responsibility lightly nor can we sit back and congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

I am now entering my last year as AADMD president and it has been an honor and privilege helping to lead and navigate the academy. I deeply appreciate everyone’s efforts in all of the work and dedication that you have shown not only in joining and assisting the academy but especially in your own efforts at home and in your community. Everyone who has become a AADMD and NTG member already has demonstrated a strong conviction and willingness to give more than most, not out of financial reward or professional respect at times, but out of a sincere personal conviction to the mission. I am truly humbled and honored to be a friend and colleague and I am thrilled and excited about our future.

We will be sending out further information to you soon on membership information, and educational events as well as an update on our 2012 meeting.

Sincerely,

Seth M. Keller, MD 
President, American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry