DDS Quality Assurance Reports

CDDER develops the following dissemination pieces for the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (MA DDS) on quality assurance topics that translate research findings into actionable items. These are customized towards audiences like self-advocates, management staff, families, and risk personnel.

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DDS Quality Assurance Briefs

Easy to digest reports of outcomes important to the health, safety and quality of lives of individuals who are supported by the MA DDS. Each topic based brief focuses on a specific area of quality. These briefs open in PDF.

• Choice and Decision Making
• Health – Healthy Lifestyle
• Health – Preventive Care
• Employment
• Community Access and Participation
• Developing Relationships with Family and Friends

Archived Quality Assurance Briefs

DDS Quality Is No Accident (QINA) Briefs

These briefs present analyses from the MA DDS incident reporting system and suggest actionable items to prevent future incidents and mitigate risk in the population of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These documents open in PDF (last updated June 2019).

• Sleep Apnea
• Recognizing and Responding to Sexual Abuse
• Missing Persons
• Pressure Ulcers
• Aging with Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD)
• Emergency Room and Urgent Care Strategies
• Safe Transportation of People in Wheelchairs
• Friendships in People with Intellectual Disabilities 
• Age-related Health Issues
• Dysphagia, Aspiration, and Choking
• Constipation and Bowel Obstruction
• Ingestion of Foreign Objects (Pica)
• Preventable Hospital Use: Dehydration, Constipation, and Urinary Tract Infection
• Oral Health
• Alzheimer’s and Dementia
• Preventive Screenings
• Sexuality
• Medication Errors
• Falls 

Research and Risk Management Briefs

CDDER published quality assurance briefs for developmental disability service agencies in the New England Region. These briefs discuss general research findings in the intellectual disabilities population and suggest ways for state agencies to mitigate risk: 

• What’s Up in Your State? Where to Look for Information about Quality in New England
• Never Events: Should We Use Them in DD Programs?