Community Garden Project
The Lakeshore Community Garden Project is a member-led initiative that demonstrates the transformative power of inclusive design, community planning, and food access. Funded by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, this project intentionally centered the experiences, ideas, and leadership of people with disabilities. Through adaptive gardening programs, educational workshops, and a dedicated planning group, it has created far more than just a garden—it has planted the seeds of health, community, and connection.
Read Our Community Garden Project Report
Oral Health and Disability
Lakeshore was the lead subject matter expert in disability for a year-long partnership with the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. These two organizations received funding from the CareQuest Oral Health Research Institute to work together to develop a collaborative approach to identifying and removing barriers to dental care for people with disabilities in the Greater Philadelphia area. The project had five key components focusing on mapping assets that facilitate access to dental care for people with disabilities in the Greater Philadelphia area, creation and deployment of surveys for both dental practices and disability organizations to identify barriers to dental care for people with disabilities, conducting focus groups with 100 adults with disabilities and their allies to gather direct input about experiences accessing dental care, the creation of a resource guide for people with disabilities, their allies and dental practices, and the initiation of the Community Advocates Resource Enhancement (CARES) multi-sector coalition. Key findings highlighted the need for addressing accessibility, transportation, communication, and patient support.
My Health, My Life, My Way
Lakeshore has created the first inclusive, chronic condition self-management program using a person-centered approach. The program is titled “My Health, My Life, My Way” and includes contents on: Self-Care and Goal Setting, My Health, Basics of Diabetes, Following My Wellness Plan, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, Resiliency, Sleep, Finances, Healthy Living at Work, Healthy Living in your Community, and Tools for Success. A total of nine focus groups have been conducted with people with disabilities and chronic conditions, researchers and health professionals for input on the program. A nationally representative stakeholder group met quarterly to provide guidance and direction on the program’s development. Lessons (text and video) have been developed including a specific focus on mental health, plain language, and marginalized communities. Lakeshore has led the marketing and recruitment activities for this program, developing the program website and successfully recruiting 250 active users. Lakeshore also provides health coaches for this intervention with 138 users receiving weekly coaching for 6 months. This project is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research Grant #90DPGE0017 – AI4CHRON An Accessible and Inclusive Artificial Intelligence Assisted Chronic Disease Self-Management Telehealth Platform.
Special Olympics International (SOI) – A Healthier You: Preventing Type 2 Diabetes
Lakeshore and Special Olympics worked together to adapt the CDC Diabetes Prevention program with adaptations to make the content more accessible for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and people with low health literacy. The revised program titled, A Healthier You: Preventing Type 2 Diabetes, has been approved by the CDC as an alternate curriculum and is currently being piloted.
Guidelines for Including People with Disabilities
Lakeshore Foundation and Special Olympics have created guidelines for including people with disabilities in health promotion programs. This guide is designed for organizations that create, run or support health promotion programs. It provides a starting point for designing, implementing and evaluating programs that meet the needs of people with disabilities.
Trainers for Hire Campaign
Field research from Lakeshore Foundation, a non-profit specializing in sports science for athletes with disabilities and a partner of Unilever-owned deodorant brand Degree, found that 81% of people with disabilities do not feel welcome in fitness spaces. In response to these findings, Degree launched #TrainersForHire, an initiative to improve representation in the fitness industry by encouraging fitness companies to hire trainers with disabilities.
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Including People with Disabilities in the National DDP
Lakeshore worked with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) as a part of the CDC’s DP17-1705 cooperative agreement to reach people with disabilities with the National DPP lifestyle program.
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Parks for Inclusion
Lakeshore worked with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) to develop Parks for Inclusion. Parks for Inclusion supports built environment enhancements, model policy development and best practices for program implementation to increase access to health opportunities for people with physical and cognitive disabilities.
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