| UNC-CH
Behavioral Health Support system for Parents
Interview with founder Juli Vanderburg
Q & A
I want to address the challenges faced by parents of children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in rural parts of North Carolina. These children can have complex mental and behavioral health needs, and while many services are available in urban parts of the state, caregivers in rural communities may lack access to the support necessary to manage those needs. This can result in negative outcomes for both parents, in terms of stress and mental health, and the children, in terms of academic and social outcomes.
I worked at the Murdoch Developmental Center in Butner, North Carolina, as part of my doctoral School Psychology program practicum. The program with which I worked at MDC focused on inpatient treatment for children and adolescents with IDD and severe behavioral challenges. While working directly with this population, I realized that many of the children ended up in mental and behavioral health crisis in part due to parental lack of access to services and support. My graduate program emphasizes the importance of early intervention in offsetting mental and behavioral health issues, and that prompted me to start thinking about ways of reaching this population of children and providing them with services early, before they reach the level of crisis that may require inpatient treatment.
There are numerous advantages to developing this program through CUBE. The program offers access to a variety of resources, networking opportunities, and learning that can potentially help me better formulate and refine my idea. Additionally, the potential access to funding through the program increases the chances that I will be able to successfully launch this innovation.
I hope to continue to develop and refine my idea through conversations with the CUBE staff and other CUBE entrepreneurs and begin to take tangible steps towards creating this innovation. I would love to have a marketable and piloted product by the end of the residency.
I hope to provide psychoeducation and consultation to caregivers struggling to meet the needs of children with IDD who may not otherwise have access to that knowledge and service. Through doing so, I hope to reduce the stress of raising a child with disabilities for caregivers while increasing the chances that the children have positive and successful life outcomes.
My desire to address this issue motivates me to be a student entrepreneur. I have seen firsthand the challenges faced by this population and how the current lack of available services can create extreme and often dangerous difficulties for caregivers and children alike. I feel that this type of telehealth service has the potential to ease these difficulties, and that because it has potential, I have a responsibility to develop the program and see it through. CUBE provides a unique opportunity to do so, and I could not pass it up.