Elsevier Providing Online Education and Training to United Cerebral Palsy National Affiliates

PHILADELPHIA, March 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Curriculum to reach nearly a quarter million individuals globally

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, has entered into an agreement with United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) to offer the College of Direct Support online education and training, included in the DirectCourse curricula portfolio, to UCP's network of nearly 100 affiliates across the U.S. The College of Direct Support online curriculum consists of more than 50 courses for direct support professionals and is managed in collaboration with Elsevier and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center on Community Living.

"The College of Direct Support curriculum is perfect for our organization," said Anita Porco, Vice President of Affiliate Network at UCP. "These courses offer another way for organizations to improve care, build relationships with and retain staff, and advance careers. Offering training such as this helps staff improve and become better care workers and caregivers."

The UCP network supports nearly 200,000 individuals with cerebral palsy and a spectrum of developmental disabilities, with hundreds of employees across the United States, Canada and Australia.

"The DirectCourse/College of Direct Support curriculum is an effective tool for UCP affiliates of all sizes," said Bill Tapp, Director, Elsevier's DirectCourse. "It provides support for smaller organizations that may not have the resources for specific, on-site training, while larger organizations can benefit greatly from the convenience of an online curriculum, offering multiple employees from various locations around the country localized online instruction."

About DirectCourse

The DirectCourse online curricula, including College of Direct Support, College of Employment Services and College of Personal Care and Assistance, and College of Recovery and Community Inclusion, are designed to help those who support people with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities, including older adults, build more rewarding careers. The curricula has been developed through a collaboration between Elsevier and various nationally designated centers of excellence and universities, including the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center on Community Living, the Institute for Community Inclusion at University of Massachusetts Boston, the Center for Personal Assistance Services at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media Contact
Christopher Capot
Director, Corporate Relations
Elsevier
+1-212-633-3164
c.capot@elsevier.com