In 1991, a group of parents convinced Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge to open a primary care clinic two mornings each month for their adult children with Down syndrome.
Good ideas flourished and the Adult Down Syndrome Clinic (ADSC) grew into a holistic care center nurturing the physical and mental well-being of more than 4,500 patients.
The clinic employs two full-time doctors and a multi-disciplinary staff. Director Dr. Brian Chicoine deserves much of the credit for this success. Sitting in the clinic’s community space — a room decorated with a globe, teddy bears, cheerful fabrics and a patient’s painting — the triathlete and father of three teenage daughters beams.
“Our patients break barriers!” he says. “For example, one drives from Northbrook each day to study at Oakton Community College. Others marry, work, and far exceed their average life expectancy.” His blue eyes twinkle. “Our oldest patient is 83,” he says.
Now ADSC is the largest clinic of its kind in the country. It’s also a national model for coordinating mental and physical care, focusing on prevention and wellness incentives, reducing the use of medication, and creating the kind of local home health care that health care reform leaders envision as ideal for the future.
The clinic’s size and reputation will again grow substantially in 2011, when it moves into a new building that will double its current space. This will allow ADSC to become more like a community center for its patients and their families, with various activities such as cooking classes. Chicoine explains, “Cooking and eating together are some of the most social activities. This can help their relationships.”
Chicoine lists many positives that flow from life with an adult with Down syndrome: “They remind us to slow down,” he says. Better yet, “they radiate empathy and love. Their parents rarely divorce and live longer, too, because they have purpose — caring for their child.”
Chicoine’s patients also make his life better. He boasts, “I’m known as the most hugged doctor on the planet!” At a recent Lutheran Hospital gala, Chicoine joyfully danced with patients. And his work fuels his fitness: Chicoine runs to raise money for Down syndrome research.
Because of his success, as well as the internet, Chicoine is now bombarded with requests for information and help. He hopes that the smart phone app he is developing will reduce his workload. The application would allow medical practitioners and families to access or contribute to the best protocols online. The two books that Chicoine co-authored on the medical and mental care of adults with Down syndrome listed below are also excellent resources.
Resources:
- “Mental Wellness in Adults With Down Syndrome: A Guide to Emotional and Behavioral Strengths and Challenges
” by Dennis McGuire, Ph.D., and Brian Chicoine, M.D. (Woodbine House, 2006)
- “The Guide to Good Health for Teens and Adults With Down Syndrome
” by Brian Chicoine, M.D., and Dennis McGuire, Ph.D. (Woodbine House, 2010)
