Virtual Coach: HealthMatters Program

What is Virtual Coach: HealthMattersTM Program?

• A health promotion program that provides frontline staff strategies and materials to support healthy options and choices among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Consists of a 12-week program that includes 36 interactive online health education lessons and physical activity videos. View Health Matters Curriculum Preface and Table of Contents.
• Provided free by a 12-month grant from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Center for Clinical and Translational Science’s Pilot Translational and Clinical Studies Program to the HealthMattersTM Program at the Department of Disability and Human Development, UIC.

What will you get with the Virtual Coach: HealthMattersTM Program?

1. HealthMattersTM Program Virtual Instructor Certification**– a 3-hour webinar training for support staff to learn how to do the following:

• Access online Virtual Coach: HealthMattersTM Program using Google Classroom,
• Use the paper Health Matters Curriculum,
• Develop a Program Plan for your Virtual Coach: HealthMatters Program, and
• Obtain strategies and resources to improve health behaviors and health status of people with IDD.

Certification will be received upon completion 3-hour webinar and Program Plan activities and Lesson 1 in Google Classroom (3 additional hours). Six (6) CEUs/CPEUs provided for Advance Practice Nurses, Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LSW, LPC, LCPC), Licensed Dietitian Nutritionists (RD), Nursing Home Administrators, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Qualified Intellectual Disabilities Professionals (QIDP), Speech Language Pathologists, and Illinois Teachers (CPDUs). Add extra $15 per person for CEUs.

Your team will need to pick ONE of the two options below to attend webinar training:

• Option 1 | Tuesday, September 19th, 2023 (1pm-4pm CT)
• Option 2 | Wednesday, September 20th, 2023 (10am-1pm CT)

2. Online Classroom Materials in the Virtual Coach: 12-Week HealthMattersTM Program in Google Classroom – an online single access point to 36 lessons, resources, and support which allows for an interactive communication, feedback and collaborative learning. Participating organizations will receive technical assistance by the national HealthMattersTM Program Team members.

3. Health Matters: The Exercise and Nutrition Health Education Curriculum for People with Developmental Disabilities – A complimentary paper curriculum, which mirrors Google Classroom for all participating organizations to teach people with IDD to understand, consider, and communicate health options and choices.

HealthMattersTM Program and all of its components is an evidence-based Administration on Community Living (ACL) approved health promotion program designed specifically for and by the people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With over two decades of research and translation into community sites serving people with IDD, we have reached over 10,000+ people with IDD and over 2800 support staff across 35 states and 8 countries.