Susan Havercamp, Ph.D., FAAIDD, NADD-CC

Program Director

Health Promotion - Healthcare Parity Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Psychology, and Genetic Counseling Ohio Disability and Health Program, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, LEND, Nisonger Behavior Support Services

(614) 685-8724
susan.havercamp@osumc.edu

Biography:

Discipline(s):

Psychology

Education

  • The Ohio State University: PhD, Intellectual an Developmental Disabiity Psychology, 1996- 1998
  • The Ohio State University: M.A., Intellectual and Developmental Disability Psychology, 1993-1996
  • The University of Iowa: B.S., Psychology, 1988-1992

Biography:

Dr. Susan Havercamp’s research focuses on the physical and mental health of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With funding support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she has contributed to the disability and health field in three ways: building a health surveillance evidence base, developing and evaluating health promotion interventions, and training healthcare providers to improve healthcare for patients with disabilities. She strongly believes that education is the solution to many health inequities for people with disabilities. Her NIDILRR-funded research and training center studies the mental health of adults with intellectual disability.  Engaging adults with ID and research experts in a learning community, this research will 1) develop self-report mental health assessment instruments for adults with ID, 2) estimate the prevalence of mental health conditions among adults with ID, and 3) explore promising practices in psychotherapy with adults with ID and co-occurring mental health conditions.  Dr. Havercamp directs the Ohio Disability and Health Program, a state capacity-building program to improve the health of Ohioans with disabilities.  In this role, she works closely with the Ohio Department of Health, the University of Cincinnati University Center for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities, and the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center. Dr. Havercamp is a consulting editor for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the Disability and Health Journal, and Inclusion. She is a founding member of the Student and Early Career Professional Committee and is past president of both the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Board of Directors and the Alliance on Disability in Health Care Education.

Research

  1. The presentation, assessment, and prevalence of mental health conditions among adults with IDD
  2. Health inequities among adults with  disabilities and other marginalized identities
  1. Improving health and healthcare for people with disabilities and intersecting identities4. Training health care professionals to provide disability competent careService

Dr. Havercamp serves on the Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities National Intellectual and Developmental Disability Health Surveillance workgroup.  She is a member on the NADD Professional Certification Committee and on the editorial board of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the Disability and Health Journal, and Inclusion.

Contributions to science:

  1. I have contributed to the body of science on health surveillance of people with disabilities. Public health and policy planning is compromised by the lack of national data on the prevalence and the health status of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I have contributed to changing health surveys and protocols to improve health surveillance for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  We explored the additive impact of having multiple marginalized identities.  We found that adults who had disabilities and were Black or Hispanic/Latinx were disadvantaged in several essential areas of healthcare utilization.

 

  1. Brown, H. K., Chen, S., Guttmann, A., Havercamp, S. M., Parish, S., Ray, J. G., … & Lunsky, Y. (2020). Rates of recognized pregnancy in women with disabilities in Ontario, Canada. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 222(2), 189-192.
  2. Havercamp, S.M., Krahn, G.L., Larson, S.A., Fujiura, G., Goode, T.D., Kornblau, B.L.(2019). Identifying People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in National Population Surveys, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
  3. Yee, S., Breslin, M.L, Goode, T.D. Havercamp, S.M., Horner-Johnson, W., Iezzoni, L.I., Krahn, G. (2018). Commissioned Paper: Compounded Disparities Health Equity at the Intersection of Disability, Race, and Ethnicity. Washington, DC: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/Activities/SelectPops/HealthDisparities/Commissioned-Papers/Compounded-Disparities.aspx
  4. Havercamp, S.M. & Scott, H.M. (2015). National health surveillance of adults with disabilities, adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and adults with no disabilities. Disability and Health Journal, 8, 165-172
  1. As evidence mounted for the stark health and health care disparities experienced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, I sought opportunities to inform health promotion efforts. I have been continuously funded since 2012 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support the Ohio Disability and Health Program, a state-wide capacity building program to promote the health of Ohioans with disabilities. Partnering with the Ohio Department of Health, we endeavor to ensure that Ohioans with disabilities are not overlooked or excluded from health policies and programs. The success of this program is evident in the 2020 Ohio State Health Improvement Plan, which identified people with disabilities as a health disparate population and a target for equity intervention. Consistent support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has allowed me to adapt health promotion programs for people with disabilities and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of these programs.
    1. Barnhart, W. R., Smith, C. N. W., Coleman, E., Riddle, I. K., & Havercamp, S. M. (2019). Living Independent From Tobacco reduces cigarette smoking and improves general health status among long-term tobacco users with disabilities. Disability and Health Journal, 100882.
    2. Barnhart, W.R., Havercamp, S. M., Lorenz, A., & Yang, E. A. (2019). Better together: A pilot study on Cooking Matters for people with developmental disabilities and direct support professionals. Nutrition and Metabolic Insights, 12, 1-7.
    3. Havercamp, S.M., Gjessing, R., Whalen Smith, C.N. (2018). Chronic Disease Self-Management Program in American Sign Language: Evaluation and Recommendations. Health Promotion Practice
    4. Scott, H.M. & Havercamp, S.M. (2018). Promoting Wellness in People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Through Relationships. Current Developmental Disorders Reports. Invited paper in Y. Lunsky (Ed.) Intellectual Disability Topical Collection, 1-7.
  1. The health disparities experienced by people with developmental disabilities are, in part, related to the shortages of healthcare professionals who know how to meet their specialized needs. Assumptions about disability. Low perceived competence and limiting attitudes of medical professionals can also affect the quality of care and health outcomes for this population.  I have worked to increase provider knowledge about and comfort in providing care to patients with developmental disabilities.  I served as the primary investigator in these studies.
    1. Havercamp, S. M., Barnhart, W. R., Robinson, A. C., & Smith, C. N. W. (2021). What should we teach about disability? National consensus on disability competencies for health care education. Disability and health journal, 100989.
    2. Bowena, C. N., Havercampa, M., Bowen, S., & Nye, G. (2020). A Call to Action: Preparing a Disability-Competent Health Care Workforce. Disability and Health Journal, 100941. a co-first authors
    3. Crane* JM, Strickler* JG, Lash AT, Macerollo A, Prokup* JA, Rich* KA, Robinson AC, Whalen Smith CN, Havercamp (2021). Getting comfortable with disability: The short- and long-term effects of a clinical encounter, Disability and Health Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.100993.
    4. Navas, P.M., Llorente, S.L., Garcia-Dominguez, L., Tassé, M.J., & Havercamp,M. (2019). Improving health care access for older adults with intellectual disability: What are the needs? Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities.