Projects
Health Equity Review Initiative at the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services
2024
Project Overview
Objective
To advance Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services’ (DDS’s) goals of centering equity and community representation in its programs and service delivery and to enable people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to achieve their full health potential.
Project Motivation
Massachusetts DDS is committed to advancing health equity for the people it supports. To foster a more equitable and inclusive service system, DDS engaged Mathematica to conduct a health equity review to identify relevant evidence and provide recommendations. The review will culminate in a strategic roadmap with recommendations for advancing equity, particularly for people from historically marginalized groups.
Partners in Progress
M. Davis and Company
Prepared For
Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services
Mathematica and DDS are seeking to center the voices of people with lived experience and the broader I/DD community in this work, ultimately to advance health equity. We are striving to offer accessible and inclusive opportunities for the community to provide input and shape the strategic roadmap.
Mathematica is conducting a health equity review for DDS. This review will culminate in a roadmap for DDS that distills relevant evidence and provides recommendations to guide progress toward DDS’s objectives of creating a more equitable service delivery system for adults with I/DD and/or ASD. To support the health equity review and development of the roadmap, our team will:
- Review DDS materials, including current data collection systems
- Conduct an external scan to identify best practices for building an equitable delivery system for adults with I/DD and/or ASD
- Administer a survey to elicit input from the DDS provider network on perceived barriers to health equity in DDS operations
- Interview key informants within DDS to understand the agency’s context and perceived barriers
- Assemble an advisory committee to obtain the perspectives of experts, self-advocates, and local practitioners who are attuned to the local context
- Hold listening sessions and offer a web-based survey to gather input from the I/DD and ASD community
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