Woods Services
Most Recent Initiative: Health Equity for People with Disabilities 2.0
Grant years: 2025–26
Prior Initiative: Population Health Equity for People with Disabilities
Grant years: 2021–22, 2023–24
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Health Equity for People with Disabilities 2.0
The goals of the project are ultimately to improve care for people with disabilities throughout New Jersey. This project builds on the Cohort 3 project which created and delivered six training modules for healthcare professionals, based on input from an Advisory Council whose members were people with disabilities and input from other stakeholders, including healthcare providers, families and caregivers, and people with disabilities. The approach for the Woods System of Care Health Equity for People with Disabilities 2.0 project will entail 1) continuing engagement of Advisory Council made up of members with disabilities to inform and guide the project; 2) scaling up implementation of training modules for healthcare providers throughout New Jersey; 3) adapting existing training for direct care workers to reach a new workforce, home-visiting staff and community health workers; and 4) finalizing a health equity “disability-friendly healthcare” framework reflecting underlying themes that emerged from the Advisory Council.
Population Health Equity for People with Disabilities
Grant Two: 2023–24
The goal of this initiative is to improve health and healthcare access for people with disabilities, who disproportionately experience health disparities and barriers to care in part because of the lack of welcoming and accessible health settings and the lack of healthcare providers trained to deliver care to this diverse population.
The project team will gather input from an advisory council composed of individuals with disabilities and conduct interviews with other stakeholders, the results of which will inform the development of 1) a health equity framework for disability-friendly healthcare, 2) metrics to measure successful implementation of the framework, and 3) six trainings that will build providers’ skills and knowledge to improve healthcare delivery.
This project is based in Mercer County, where Woods is developing an integrated health center that will offer primary care and behavioral health. The health equity framework and training will be piloted at the new health center located at the RWJBarnabas Health System’s Robert Woods Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, and it will ultimately be expanded to reach other providers throughout New Jersey.
Grant One: 2021–22
This project increases access to primary care for people with intellectual disabilities who experience significant disparities in access to care and health outcomes. The project entails building an integrated and inclusive primary care practice adjacent to Salem Medical Center (now Inspira) in Salem County, N.J.; training providers to enhance competency and knowledge to improve health care delivery for individuals with intellectual disability and complex behavioral and medical needs; and establishing the foundation for further replication of Woods’ integrated care model elsewhere in New Jersey.
The project builds on Woods’ successful patient-centered medical home model and leverages ongoing planning with our project partners, including people with disabilities who actively drive the change needed to improve health care access and services.
