Nisonger Center Strategic Planning Retreat 2009
Discussion Guide: Research
1.
Submitted by Dr. Aman/Dr. Arnold
What should the overarching Nisonger Center research goal be to establish
competitive footing with other top-ranked programs around the country?
Develop programmatic themes of research that will improve the lives of people with disabilities.
Strive to become an I/DD Research Center
Increase money and become self-sustaining.
Avoid naming specific areas, such as autism transition. Everyone knows that autism is hot. It is
more important to play to our strengths and to identify areas where we are naturally strong and
likely to compete well.
2.
Aside from increasing funding, what are at least 3 other elements of the research
mission that the Nisonger Center can improve to elevate its status?
Have time and support commitments to prepare applications and publications.
Hire junior faculty and involve trainees in conducting and publish research.
Integrate clinical and other programs (and databases) to foster ongoing and future research, and
identify/cross-refer participants.
3.
What are the top 5 resources that the program is currently missing that would most
significantly enhance the research mission and enable the program to heighten its
national reputation? What 4 - 5 criteria should the program look at to prioritize
these resources?
Private endowments to enable pilot data to be collected for competing for
grants and provide hedge funding between grants.
In-house grants manager to assist in budget development and budget tracking post award.
In-house statistician to assist on power analysis and data analytic plan (pre-grant) and analysis of
findings (could also assist in training of our students).
Hire more faculty capable of stepping into research roles (in collaboration with academic
departments).
Cross-center database for research (potential participants, clinics, studies etc.)
Criteria:
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Which can be most quickly implemented
Which are most economical or have the most offsetting savings
Which have the biggest return per cost
Which are most promoting of other center missions/goals --e.g., community
collaboration
How can the research mission of the Nisonger Center support OSUMC’s promise of
improving people’s lives through personalized health care (specify 3-4 strategies)?
4.
Always analyze for predictive models of treatment response.
Strive to become I/DD Research Center
Translate findings to clinical care, education --dissemination.
Develop predictions that will identify optimal responders from interventions.
Contribute to in-service training of local and state organizations as well as national.
1.
What are the major barriers to success for the research mission area and how do we
overcome them?
Fragmentation of programs and of research from clinical programs (Common data base,
educate clinical staff about current research)
Aging of research cadre (systematic grooming and hiring of junior research-oriented
faculty)
Lack of adequate avenues from clinics to studies. (Systematic data base, alert all new
intakes to research opportunities, get permission to be contacted re appropriate projects.)
Lack of relation with TIUs, which is both an obstacle to recruiting good junior faculty
and hobbles productive collaboration on research projects. (Continue exploring ways to
jointly recruit faculty and to collaborate on research. Consider possibility of center
becoming a TIU in disability studies.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Time and support to develop lines of research.
Heterogeneity (fragmentation) of staff members and trainees an impediment (e.g., we have
non-physician trainees who are short-term undergraduate, long-term graduate, and physicians
who are involved for variable periods).
Make hiring of new investigators a priority.
Lack of cooperation (integration) with tenure-initiating units.
Lack of linkage with signature programs  perception is that we are not cutting edge.
From Mike only: Our relative failure to “seduce” academic colleagues by access to research
participants, collaboration, and the like.
Community Outreach, Engagement, and Reputation
Notes from Breakout Discussion
Submitted by Jillian Ober
1. Having a strong outreach is important to increasing developmental funds. What are
4 ways that The Nisonger Center can improve its outreach/reputation?
1. a. Increase internal awareness of the marketing plan developed by the Marketing
Committee
b. Provide opportunities for more fluid input from staff members who are not on
this committee
2. a. Identify our community partners; “Who are our friends?” (i.e. people with
disabilities, families, agencies/organizations, County Boards of DD, United
Way/Campus Campaign donors)
b. Determine if we need to reach out to those partners as donors and/or
advocates
3. Identify more opportunities for Nisonger to be seen and heard (i.e. open house,
better marketing on campus, more promotional items)
4. Improve internal communication among program areas, leading to more
consistent external representation of Nisonger (Are we all using a similar
“elevator speech”?)
Also mentioned:
 Identify the “right person” to represent Nisonger in collaborative ventures so
that we are always putting our best foot forward
 Emphasize “lifespan” when describing The Nisonger Center
 Publish more
2. National and International presentations at conferences are one way that The
Nisonger Center can enhance its outreach. What are 4 ways that The Nisonger
Center can leverage these presentations to heighten its reputation?
1. Identify which conferences will give the most “bang for our buck” (leadership
committee should be more selective and strategic when choosing
conferences in which to participate)
2. Create more of an impact at conferences by having multiple presentations
and using the same template (for branding)
3. Issue press releases in advance of major presentations
4. Collect roster of presentation attendees, and follow up with marketing
materials
3. Of the programs at The Nisonger Center, are there any that stand out as having the
most potential to influence national reputation? If so, what are they?
1. Psychopharmacology research
2. Next Chapter Book Club (currently in 3 countries, 17 states, and 65 cities)
3. Williams Syndrome (provides information that is limited elsewhere)
4. Peer mentoring (Aspirations)
4. What are the major barriers to success for improving the local, regional, and national
reputation of The Nisonger Center?
1. Diversity of programs/services (takes more than a minute to describe what
Nisonger does)
2. Nisonger is not a typical service agency
3. Low publication volume
4. Nisonger must deal with 88 County Boards of DD, as opposed to one state
entity
5. Limited access to underserved populations (rural/Appalachian Ohio)
6. Lack of adequate space, facility in disrepair, difficult and inadequate parking
Nisonger Center Strategic Planning Retreat 2009
Education/Training Breakout Session
1.
Submitted by Liz Harzoff
What are the top 3 resources that the program is currently missing that would most
significantly enhance the education mission and enable the program to heighten its
national reputation?
—Awareness of larger community of who we are and what we do
—Collaboration with the medical school, Education & Human Ecology, and other
university programs to give a wide variety of people opportunities to work hands-on with
people with disabilities (doctors, regular educators); formal program agreements with
other departments specifying these opportunities (internships, practicums listed in various
departments)
—Awareness of students working within Nisonger Center of other university resources
(Deaf Studies, Disability Studies, related undergraduate courses)
2.
What are the 3 critical success factors for increasing the number of students and
training opportunities?
— Formal agreements with other university/medical school departments regarding
practicums, internships, etc.
—Greater awareness of the larger university/medical center community of opportunities
Nisonger can provide for students (graduate & undergraduate) to have hands-on
involvement with people with disabilities
—Limits of current method of recruiting LEND trainees
3.
How can the education mission support OSUMC’s promise of improving people’s
lives through Personalized Health Care (specify 3-4 strategies)?
—Promote, assist, and develop opportunities for all medical students to learn about
disabilities
—Promote, assist, and develop training opportunities for all medical center personal to
learn about interacting with people with disabilities (emergency room staff, nurses, others
already in the field)
—Provide post-secondary opportunities for person with disabilities to learn about
maintaining and improving their own health/sharing “Medical Home” model with
persons with disabilities/improving health literacy of persons with disabilities
—Spread Nisonger’s mission out to the rest of the world (universe?)
4.
What are the ways that the Nisonger Center can improve the educational experience
for its students?
(List of students served by Nisonger Center: undergraduates; birth-two-year-olds;
preschoolers; Project Plus; post-secondary students who have aged-out of the education
system; very short-term trainees [students working in ECE classrooms, for example],
graduate students; post-doctoral fellows)
—consider when courses are taught (to mesh with needs of students)
—greater variety of practicum experiences (especially for researchers) and research
experiences for clinical personnel
—more training on research methodology for clinical folks, as well as more research
opportunities
—high-level professional development for ECE staff
—real jobs for Project Plus students and those who have aged out of the educational
system
—more post-doctoral opportunities/separate post-doc program for LEND/more money
for post-docs
—shared seminars and colloquia with LEND, graduate research forum
—include families in educational opportunities
Strategic Planning Retreat 2009 – Clinical Mission
Submitted by Karen Ratliff-Schaub
1. One of the biggest opportunities for the Nisonger Center is to increase clinical volumes. From
stakeholder input, several ways the department could do this emerged. Prioritize and rank order
the following tactics (as if you cold do only one at a time) for increasing volumes and identify
the critical success factors and barriers to implementation. Prioritize from 1 to 5, where 1 is your
top priority.
Identifying, focusing, and growing specific programs
Priority: 1
Critical Factors: need for adult services; ASD services (ABA consultants) faculty treatment/
interventions; patient navigators (service brokers); fellowship training: Family Physicians,
Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics
Barriers:
Recruiting and retain the most qualified clinical and research faculty members
Priority: 2
Critical Factors:
Barriers:
Increasing collaboration with the OSU Medical Center (and OSU).
Priority: 3
Critical Factors:
Dr. Gabbe’s support; primary Care
Barriers: History – difficulty in establishing adult providers, medical staff and faculty
appointment process
Improve the process for patients to enter and move within the system of the Nisonger Center
Priority: 4
Critical Factors:
Lack of infrastructure
Barriers:
Providing services in geographically diverse locations
Priority: 5
Critical Factors: Telemedicine; Medicaid not paying in Ohio.
Barriers:
2.
How can the clinical mission of the Nisonger Center support OSUMC’s promise of
improving people’s lives through Personalized Health Care (specify 3-4 strategies)?
o Patient navigators/service brokers (system in Dayton using for medical?)
o Adult services (medical) – CATCH planning grant
o Building capacity/ training clinical staff (education)
o Sexual Education for adults
- Curriculum
- Collaboration opportunity?
o Telemedicine
3.
What are the major barriers to success for the clinical mission area and how do we
overcome them?
o Isolation
o Disconnect from other priorities of OSUMC/OSU
o Balance between being freestanding and integrated