Jennifer
Avery,
RDH, MPH, CDHC
Coordinator of Health
Special Olympics Arkansas
Jennifer Avery obtained both her BS in dental hygiene in 2013 and MPH in 2019 from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She has worked with the UAMS Office of Interprofessional Education on projects pertaining to vulnerable and underserved populations since 2017. Her clinical practice focuses on providing quality care to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Her full-time role with Special Olympics Arkansas (SOAR) focuses on providing health promotion screening and education events, resource sharing, and service connection for the 29,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities served by SOAR as well as providing healthcare provider and student training on best practices for providing high quality care to patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Presenting at the Nexus Summit:
Patients with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) have specific healthcare challenges and needs. Students infrequently receive training/have opportunity to interact with patients with ID in the absence of a specialty training site. Simulation education affords opportunity for deliberate practice regarding identification of challenges, development of appropriate management plan and anticipation of potential issues. In the spirit of “Person, Family and Community-Engaged Practice and Education,” we partnered with the Special Olympics Arkansas (SOA) chapter Director to pair goals for health…