How Health Departments Strive for Accessibility and Disability Justice

This webinar is designed to showcase how health departments can move towards disability justice. We know that disability justice is a lofty goal, but that as we continue to strive for it we can make public health more inclusive and accessible for all people. In this webinar we will hear from two health departments and their partners, who have been working together to improve the health of people with disabilities and work towards disability justice. Throughout the case studies we will explore examples of how health departments can make their internal processes and community programs more accessible.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Explain how the 2 health departments are employing different strategies to make their work more accessible and inclusive
• Apply the accessibility and inclusion strategies learned in the webinar to their own work
• Discuss how governmental public health can shift its approach to better include people with disabilities

Speakers:

• Blayne Amson, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Disability Equity Program Manager, Seattle King County Public Health: Blayne Amson serves as the ADA and Disability Equity Program Manager for Public Health – Seattle & King County, where he works to remove barriers and strengthen how public health serves people with disabilities. 
• Tony Gunter has been a passionate advocate for people with disabilities throughout his life. Diagnosed with a disability at age five, Tony grew up navigating the challenges of school with an IEP, and he discovered confidence and community through the Special Olympics. 
• Mary Kathryn Curcio Stoddard (she/her) is an AuDHD advocate with dyscalculia, GAD, and C-PTSD. She is currently a chronic disease epidemiologist and program evaluator at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services with the Healthy Environments Active Living Program focusing on obesity, nutrition, physical activity and school health. 
• Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, M.A. is a disability justice and public health consultant with over 17 years of experience advancing violence prevention, survivor-centered practice and systems-level change.