Campus News

UK's HDI Partners With American Heart Association

Inclusive Mobile Kitchen Series.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 5, 2019) — The University of Kentucky Human Development Institute's (HDI) State Disability and Health Program, Project CHEER (Community Health Education and Exercise Resources), has partnered with Natalie Littlefield, the community health director for the Lexington Division of the American Heart Association (AHA) and a UK alumna. Together they co-authored a presentation titled “Promotion of Successful Inclusion of Individuals with Disabilities Through Universal Design in American Heart Association’s Health Programs.” The presentation will be showcased at the 2019 American Public Health Association’s (APHA) annual meeting and expo Nov. 2-6 in Philadelphia.

The presentation will review the community collaborations, universal design strategies in health programming and pilot results of an inclusive offering of the AHA’s Mobile Kitchen series. Future directions for broadening efforts and sustainability will be explained. Additionally, presenters will briefly discuss adaptation and implementation of a second inclusive pilot of AHA’s Healthy for Life program with implementation late spring 2019. 

“This is such an important partnership with the AHA because we want to promote the broad accessibility of great health services to individuals who are often at the highest risk for being unhealthy and underserved, and this presentation provides us the opportunity to encourage other programs to do the same,” said Lindsey Mullis, inclusive health director of HDI's Project CHEER, which is a program HDI administers through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Kentucky has one of the highest rates of disability in the nation at 34.6%,” said Littlefield, who received her Master of Public Health with a concentration in health behavior from UK's College of Public Health. “The CDC reports that heart disease, stroke and diabetes occur at a rate three times higher than the general population. That’s why the AHA is partnering with Project CHEER to promote inclusion for all individuals in our community programs.”

Presenting with Littlefield from Project CHEER will be Lindsey Mullis, Megan Jaspersen and Danielle Augustin of the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute.

Inclusive Mobile Kitchen
The Inclusive Mobile Kitchen Series. Photo provided by HDI.

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