DSC2U: A Personalized Care Plan

If you are a DSANI member in good standing, contact the DSANI office for a discount code to help with the price of access to DSC2U.

DSC2U: A personalized care plan

“Only about 5% of the 212,000 families in the U.S. who have loved ones with Down syndrome live in an area where they can visit a Down syndrome specialty program like the one at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. We know that most hardworking primary care physicians have only one or two patients with Down syndrome in their practice, so it is both unreasonable and impractical to expect them to stay current on all of the healthcare recommendations for this unique population.

We created Down Syndrome Clinic to You (DSC2U) to bring the best of health and wellness information about Down syndrome to caregivers and primary care physicians around the globe. We believe that location and personal finances should never prevent someone from accessing the best and most timely medical information for a loved one with Down syndrome.

We see DSC2U as a way for families to get up-to-date, personalized health and wellness information for their loved one with Down syndrome. When caregivers access DSC2U online, they will be asked to identify current symptoms in their loved one with Down syndrome along with any past medical or behavioral diagnoses and any recent blood work or diagnostic testing. DSC2U also contains optional sets of questions about nutrition, education, therapies, life skills, and community resources. Their responses will be analyzed by a computer, based on state-of-the-art guidelines designed by national Down syndrome experts.

The caregiver will instantly receive two personalized documents: one for themselves and one to share with their primary healthcare provider. These documents contain customized suggestions that are designed to help their loved one get healthcare tailored to their own specific needs. The documents are based on the caregiver’s answers to the DSC2U survey, and draw on national guidelines for care of persons with Down syndrome.

DSC2U does not offer direct access to physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, nor does it offer caregivers access to MGH physicians by e-mail, text, phone, or videoconference. DSC2U offers instead the most current recommendations and resources to caregivers through personalized online documents.”

- Dr. Brian Skotko & his colleagues