DHIP Disability Dispatch | April 2021
Disability Dispatch
April 2021
DHIP Member Spotlight
Matt Ney - Founder/CEO
Matt Ney is the founder of Kakana, a streaming fitness platform for people of all abilities. Kakana (which means bold, determined, daring, and courageous) was created to offer intense and engaging fitness classes both live and on-demand, to individuals with and without disabilities. 

Matt is an experienced entrepreneur, having founded four companies over the past decade. These include Fitbound, Nvision, and Fitbound for All. Fitbound for All is a non-profit whose mission is to impact the health and well-being of individuals with and without disabilities and make sure all individuals can be included in the health and wellness conversation. When asked why he started his latest company, Kakana, Matt stated "I started Kakana as I found while researching my previous company that there were not any streaming accessible fitness platforms. I kept asking myself, how come there isn't a Peloton type brand that is accessible? I knew there was a chance to make a major impact and move the needle in the fitness industry toward being more accessible. If we are successful other brands will either want to collaborate with Kakana or be forced to create their own accessible fitness classes. If that happens then we have made a major impact for the positive."

To learn more about Kakana, please visit here.
Special: Fitness & Physical Activity
The 2017 Maryland Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an annual survey which collects the prevalence of chronic health conditions, showed that 37.2 percent of adults with one or more disabilities reported 150+ minutes of physical activity per week (current recommended level for all adults) compared with 54.5 percent of adults with no disabilities.1 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults with disabilities are three times more likely to have heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or cancer than adults without disabilities. Aerobic physical activity helps reduce the impact of these chronic diseases; however, nearly half of all adults with disabilities get no leisure time aerobic physical activity.2

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition
The CDC recommends that all adults avoid inactivity, and adults with chronic conditions or disabilities can benefit from increasing physical activity. In 2018, the CDC released the 2nd edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines contain key considerations and recommendations for adults with disabilities. Guidelines include information on aerobic exercise, muscle-strengthening exercises, and considerations for working with a health care professional to develop an exercise plan. To learn more please visit here.
Tools and Resources
Assistive Technology to Support Health and Wellness

This guide was created by the Maryland Assistive Technology Program (MDTAP) at the Maryland Department of Disabilities and provides information on devices/apps that assist with health and wellness. If you have any questions about the devices in the guide or would like guidance on what other options are available, please contact the AT Specialist, James Whitney, at jwhitney@mdtap.org.

Resources (some may have an associated fee)


General Resources


Announcements
Welcome: Miranda Ouellette, MPH, CHES, Inclusion Coordinator, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Maryland Department of Health
Welcome Miranda Ouellette, the new Inclusion Coordinator at the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control at the Maryland Department of Health. In this role, Miranda will oversee the CDC funded Disability Health Inclusion Program, support the efforts of the statewide Disability Advisory Committee, and also overseeing other health equity focused initiatives.

Miranda comes from the Georgia Department of Health, where she served as the Health Systems Team Lead. She graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Physiology and a Masters of Public Health in International Health. She is currently working toward her doctorate in Health Equity and Social Justice from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Maryland Department of Disabilities Announcement
The Maryland Department of Disabilities will soon be releasing a request for applications for community-based disability organizations to establish (or expand current capacity of) health promotion programming to improve the health outcomes of the people they serve. More information will be shared soon, and you may contact Jennifer Eastman at Jennifer.eastman@maryland.gov if interested.
Upcoming Training Opportunity
The CCDPC in partnership with NCHPAD will be offering an inclusive public health programming training to evidence-based providers at the Maryland Department of Aging in the Spring of 2021. More details will be provided soon.