Those with disabilities may not always be able to advocate for themselves in a medical setting. In New York State, these patients have a case fatality rate 2.2 times higher than the overall COVID-19 rate. 

A new tool was created to better service patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Michelle Ballan, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean of Research in the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare and Professor of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, created a “COVID Disability Form,” which she says was intended to “reduce healthcare barriers and to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) communicate their needs, whether the patient is verbal or non-verbal.”

As the initiative picked up steam, Ballan was able to collaborate with Dr. Andrew Wackett, Clinical Associate.

“As an emergency medicine physician and educator, I realize the importance of providing compassionate, appropriate and effective care to a range of patients and especially including those who are unable to easily communicate for themselves, such as patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Dr. Wackett, who is also Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Director of the Clinical Simulation Center for Renaissance School of Medicine. “This is a skill that can and must be learned by those training to become physicians and especially in such stressful times as during a pandemic.”

The idea has been so well received that Ballan was awarded a Pfizer grant to develop a training program for healthcare providers on how to best evaluate and care for persons with IDD presenting with COVID symptoms. Dr. Wackett will also be featured in one of the webinars about the initiative.

Ballan has also received a 2020 grant from the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry to make Stony Brook one of only 18 universities with dedicated content in the medical school curriculum focused on individuals with IDD for physicians-in-training.

She is hopeful that this program will help to eliminate diagnostic overshadowing and improve treatment rates.

If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything it is that our students are amazingly resilient. In defiance of all the difficulties they have faced, the Class of 2020 has chosen to rise up and continue to make a positive impact on the world.


Pano Sourlis (left) and Vincent DeStefano (right) with donations from local school districts that they delivered to the Wang Center for Stony Brook University Hospital’s frontline workers.

Graduating Seawolves Pano Sourlis and Vincent DeStefano were among those determined to find a way to help others, even as they overcame the challenges of navigating distance learning.

When the call went out from Stony Brook University of the need for PPE donations in mid-March, Sourlis and DeStefano rallied local school districts for donations and collected hundreds of cases of masks, gloves, gowns, wipes, shields, and more. The two friends were among the first to deliver the much-needed equipment to help protect frontline doctors and nurses at Stony Brook University Hospital during the peak of the pandemic.

The engineering students reached out to more than 15 districts to encourage them to donate their excess PPE to help frontline workers. This led many districts to donate their supplies on their own, including nearby Comsewogue and Port Jefferson.

DeStefano and Sourlis also facilitated in the physical donation of supplies by driving across the county to collect donations from multiple school districts, including Commack, Kings Park, Smithtown, and Patchogue-Medford, ensuring the safe delivery of the supplies to Stony Brook.

Read the full story: Graduating Seawolves Rally to Help Frontline Fighters | | SBU News

Staller Center‘s Director Alan Inkles and his team have been hard at work to bring you online resources that help you stay connected with the arts during these trying times.

The Staller Center is offering new resources from its Instrument Petting Zoo for people at home with children or grandchildren who are looking for things to do with them. You can also download music education workbooks and create music together at home. Visit stallercenter.com/outreach for all available content.

Also, if you’re missing the broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera or the National Theatre Live you can find nightly streams from both available online.

“All year long, the Staller Center relies on the generosity and kindness of our patrons, donors and sponsors,” said Inkles. “More than ever, it is important to support our local businesses and community members.”

For ways to help our community partners and Stony Brook Medicine through this crisis, please click here.

Join Staller Center’s email list to stay informed of any future announcements.