At our last Medical Outreach meeting for local Down syndrome organizations, we discussed how you can grow medical outreach programs by starting the new year with 3-5 medical outreach goals and then evaluating your progress at the 6 months mark with a trusted colleague, peer mentor, board member, or staff member. Get suggestions for goals from the recorded webinar and below:
Potential goals to consider:
- Reach out to a new clinical practice or hospital.
- Create a medical outreach web page on your organizational website. See great examples here:
Massachusetts Down syndrome Congress
Down syndrome Association of Central Ohio
Green River Area Down syndrome Association - Find out if your state has a Down syndrome Information Act.
- Reaching out to genetic counselors or maternal fetal medicine specialists. Check with the National Society of Genetic Counselors or the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine.
- Develop a relationship with a local genetic counseling program.
- Develop relationships with collaborators, out of state providers, Early intervention providers, etc.
- Decide how to organize and distribute resources.
- Conduct Lunch and Learns and Grand Rounds. Develop your own Lunch and Learn presentation.
- Invite medical providers to serve on your organization board or advisory board.
- Fundraising goals for medical outreach. Local DD Council funding. DD councils can be found in every state.
- How to connect new parents to services: Parent to Parent and Family Voices in every state.
- Connect with state and county department of public health. Is your organization listed on their website?
- Collecting and assessing data on new referrals.
