Shane Janick, Health Advocate and Coordinator of HealthMeet at The ARC of Philadelphia, and Drexel College of Medicine School students Ashima Katakwar and Devin Barnaby, discussed the program that places medical sciences students at a Health Outreach Project clinic to learn to empathize and communicate with clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Shane described their clients as vulnerable and lacking access to healthcare, through lack of transportation, insurance issues, poverty, social isolation and often through ‘communication differences’ that renders them unable to express verbally their problems and needs. He noted that without programs such as HealthMeet, most students would never connect with a person with IDD and the students described the communication skills they are learning and their heightened awareness of the needs of the IDD population. For more information about HOP clinic and HealthMeet, visit arcphiladelphia.org
