What if we could create a virtual learning community where clinicians and educators could share best practices for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities? Well, it’s been happening here! Members of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center have been involved in several Project ECHO programs over the past few years and have found the ECHO model to be an effective way to share knowledge and build capacity.
ECHO stands for Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes. Project ECHO programs create a community of practice that usually focuses on health care clinicians, but can bring together teachers, family members, self-advocates, or therapists. The VKC has coordinated ECHO programs to improve health care for autistic adults, to offer teachers better methods of helping students with literacy, and to enhance the physical and mental health for adults with IDD in Tennessee.
Beth Malow, M.D., Burry Chair in Cognitive Childhood Development and professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, is a strong proponent of the ECHO learning model.
Beth Malow, M.D.
“I’ve seen Project ECHO increase competence among clinicians who care for people with IDD, and, as importantly, increase their confidence in serving this population,” Malow said. “The clinicians move from isolation to being part of a supportive community.”
Malow and colleagues recently recorded an informational video, “What is Project ECHO and How Could It Be Useful to Me?” to provide a brief and easy overview of the Project ECHO model.
Project ECHO began more than 20 years ago at the University of New Mexico when Dr. Sanjeev Arora, a specialist in liver disease, looked for ways that patients could be cared for in their local communities rather than being on a waiting list for months or years to be seen at his academic medical center. This training model was such a success, it launched numerous other projects and an organization to oversee the various Project ECHO programs. This idea of “all teach, all learn” is used in more than 7,400 ECHO programs worldwide, dealing with concerns as varied as HIV, substance use disorder, cancer, dementia, early intervention services, and mental health.
The ECHO program has a “hub team” of experienced individuals (clinicians, researchers, educators, family members, and those with lived experience), and the learners are the “spokes.” Together they form a community of practice, where learners present de-identified cases and get recommendations from fellow learners and from the hub team members during a series of sessions via Zoom.
A number of University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) programs are using the ECHO model. The University of Wyoming’s UCEDD, which has multiple ECHO programs, in 2023 formed the UCEDD LEND ECHO Collaborative. The collaborative’s monthly calls are open to any UCEDD or LEND program that is using or interested in using the ECHO model. The collaborative allows UCEDD, LEND, and partner agencies to share successes, challenges, and strategies to build capacity throughout their programs supporting individuals with developmental disabilities. The Wyoming Institute for Disabilities has been designated as an ECHO Superhub since 2015. A Superhub is an experienced ECHO partner authorized to provide training and technical assistance to new hubs and support them.
“I see multiple possibilities for our researchers at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center to use the ECHO model to provide information on best practices gleaned from their studies to various stakeholders,” said Julie Lounds Taylor, Ph.D., professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and co-director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center UCEDD. “Whether your work is aimed at enhancing teaching strategies, improving behavioral interventions, or helping families navigate complex systems, the case presentations allow participants to share real-life scenarios that they have found challenging and allow the experienced hub team as well as other participants to offer helpful recommendations that can be immediately implemented. Plus, the ongoing nature of the ECHO model provides reinforcement that a single webinar or presentation cannot provide.”
Malow also used the ECHO model for the ASSERT (All StakeholderS Engaged in Research Together) program, in which she and Susan Brasher, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, brought together self-advocates, family advocates (parents, spouses, siblings of people with IDD), clinicians who care for adults with IDD, and researchers to learn to co-create research together. The goal of this Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) project was to encourage research that is responsive to the IDD community, with stakeholders working together, being an essential part of the mission.
If the ECHO model sounds intriguing, think about whether creating a Project ECHO program could help you share knowledge and best practices in your field.
For more on Project ECHO, watch the informational video HERE, or email janet.shouse@vumc.org.
