Boone County Family Resources (BCFR) staff traveled to St. Louis for the Annual Aging with Developmental Disabilities Conference in May to learn more about the changing needs of adults with disabilities as they age.
Client Services Coordinators (CSC) Lauren Wiig and Rachel Turnbull, Supported Living Residential RN Hilary Hardesty, and Support Coordinators (SC) Lexie Kieffer, Ashley Allen and Fawsia Hassan attended the conference held at the St. Charles Convention Center (staff featured right, left to right).
The event brought aging and developmental disability professionals together to learn about best support models and practices and the most current information on aging with a developmental disability. Through information, education, and networking, participants from across the United States learned more about medical care, medical changes and best practices that will help them support people with developmental disabilities to live their best life, as well as end-of-life care.
“Individuals are living longer and their support needs are ever-evolving and changing,” said CSC Lauren. “Having increased knowledge regarding supports and services available is important to me and the work I do here at BCFR. Individuals with Down syndrome are more likely to experience dementia and Alzheimer’s. This can increase our knowledge when working with individuals and help communicate better with physicians and teams when communicating regarding an individual and their needs.”
SC Ashley Allen said, “Working with individuals residing in an ISL, it is important to be their advocate because they may not have someone on their side. Some people who provide support to those in an ISL don’t always think outside of the box on ways to help the client. Having guidance from BCFR is always imperative.”
Benefits to attending the conference were not only learning from outside agencies, but also learning from each other. Between sessions, the group spent time discussing presentations and topics in more depth to learn and grown from each other further.
SC Fawsia said, “It gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better to improve cooperation and support for each other.”
BCFR staff are committed to finding ways to improve the quality of life and preserve the independence of aging individuals with developmental disabilities, and to support people in their desire to age in place.