HEALTH & WELLNESS

Health & Research

Health and nutrition education, physical activity, and research have been areas that The Douglas Center has put an emphasis on in the last several years through the services provided. We understand that having an intellectual and/or developmental disability (IDD) can present with its own challenges, and some of those may include physical and mental health difficulties.

Through the COVID pandemic, we have also learned that those with IDD may be at greater risk of impact on physical and mental wellbeing. At The Douglas Center, we hope to provide education and services that can help our participants improve their physical and mental health and overall quality of life and we also hope to expand the base of knowledge in the IDD field by collaborating with local universities in research.

Health:

  • Health Matters Program (12-week program): The Exercise and Nutrition Health Education Curriculum for People with Developmental Disabilities
  • Weekly walks in nearby gym’s indoor track
  • Adopt-A-Park Program: We have adopted Lauth Park in Skokie, IL and participants go weekly to be outdoors and get physical activity while helping to clean up the park
  • Pet Therapy: Participants volunteer weekly at a local cat shelter to care for homeless cats and enjoy their time giving back
  • High Fives: An outdoor space at The Douglas Center is used regularly for physical and leisure activities
  • The Talking Farm: Besides our Flowers From The Heart program in collaboration with The Talking Farm, our participants go to the farm and have activities at The Douglas Center in partnership with The Talking Farm to help participants grow herbs and vegetables and learn more about healthy foods

Research:

We have collaborated with local universities on a number of research projects and continue to do so. Below are a few examples of studies:

Research Conducted with Midwestern University’s
Speech-Language Pathology Program
(Downers Grove, IL)

Completed work: Understanding text that is read aloud can be difficult for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). Our research team, made up of Dr. Omar M. Khan of The Douglas Center and Drs. Meredith Saletta Fitzgibbons and Amy Buros Stein of Midwestern University, wanted to find out how to support these individuals in their understanding of stories that are read aloud. 26 adults with IDD participated in this study. The research team provided three types of support to each participant as they listened to stories:

  1. One support was allowing the participant to see pictures illustrating the story.
  2. The second support was encouraging the participant to read along silently as the researcher read aloud.
  3. The third support was encouraging the participant to read aloud along with the researcher.

    4. We found that participants with strong reading skills understood the stories better when they were encouraged to read along. Looking at illustrations did not help participants to understand the stories better.

    Publication: journals.sagepub.com

Research Conducted with Midwestern University’s
Occupational Therapy Program
(Downers Grove, IL)

The research study titled: “How Will Participation in a Performance-based Healthy Meal Preparation Curriculum Support Health Literacy and Meal Preparation Skills for Adults with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disability (IDD)?”, assessed the effectiveness of participating in an intervention focusing on nutritional knowledge and independence in meal preparation for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The primary goal was to contribute to an existing program at The Douglas Center called HealthMatters™ Program. Researchers wanted to capture the perspectives of how adults with IDD make decisions related to their health and how that is implemented into their food choices. The study consisted of a 4 week-long curriculum addressing nutritional knowledge and skills for food preparation coupled with a pre/post-test assessment. The structure of the intervention included weekly group and individual sessions that addressed meal preparation skills with specific client centered support. The delivery of information was influenced by the fact that several of the study participants live in group homes and may not be involved in planning and preparing meals. The intervention focused on the following: nutritional content; learning to read and follow a recipe; kitchen and food safety; advocacy and identifying specific supports needed for choosing and preparing healthy meals; and preparing a healthy meal for the staff at The Douglas Center. While the numbers from this study didn’t show a big change in nutritional knowledge, other findings explained that health programs do help people with IDD apply cooking skills. The results confirm that health programs can boost education, knowledge, skills, and self-confidence when the social environment makes it easy for adults with IDD to join in healthy meal preparation.

Studies graphic
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3445 Howard Street
Skokie, IL 60076

Phone: 847-674-1921

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