STM publisher Elsevier will collaborate with CQL, The Council on Quality and Leadership, an international provider of training, accreditation, consultation and certification services for human service organizations. The collaboration will result in the creation of a comprehensive online resource for the educational needs of direct support professionals, who work to improve the quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).
The new content, developed through this new partnership between CQL and Elsevier DirectCourse and in collaboration with the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center on Community Living, will focus on CQL's Personal Outcome Measures®. One of CQL's flagship tools and a critical component to accreditation, Personal Outcome Measures® is focused on helping organizations deliver quality services that are defined by the people they support, through a standardized, person-centered approach.
An effective data set for valid and reliable measurement of individual quality of life, Personal Outcome Measures® contain 21 indicators that define quality from the individual's perspective, including freedom of choice, employment, privacy, fair treatment and social support. Training will be offered through DirectCourse's College of Direct Support (CDS), a set of web-based courses designed for direct support professionals (DSPs) and others who support people with I/DD. Service providers can use the online courses to train DSPs to ensure that the services and supports they are providing have the desired results and outcomes for the people they support, as defined by the people themselves.
Additionally, DirectCourse CDS features other courses focused on person-centered practices, which help professionals in the field build upon Personal Outcome Measures®-related competencies, leading to more rewarding careers for them while providing human service organisations seeking or holding CQL accreditation key tools needed to maintain accredited status.
The DirectCourse online curricula, including the College of Direct Support, College of Employment Services, College of Personal Assistance and Caregiving and College of Recovery and Community Inclusion, are designed to train the direct service workforce that supports persons with disabilities to remain in home and community settings and assists them to be employed. The curricula have been developed through a collaboration between Elsevier and various nationally recognised research and training centers, including the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center on Community Living; the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston; the Community Living Policy Center (formerly the Center for Personal Assistance Services) at the University of California, San Francisco; and the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities.
