This section contains ICDR reports, studies, initiatives, and conference proceedings.

Surveying the Landscape of Disability Data and Statistics: A Toolkit for Interagency Collaboration

Collecting complete and accurate data on disability is essential to addressing the many disparities that people with disabilities face across multiple facets of daily life (e.g., health, housing, employment) compared to people without disabilities. Improving data on disability will provide a strong evidence base for how to tailor policies and programs to address the equity challenges people with disabilities face. This toolkit provides an overview of the current federal landscape of disability data collection to help people with disabilities and those supporting them, disability researchers, and federal agency staff better understand current research and resources on disability data and statistics and where improvements and additional collaboration are needed. The toolkit discusses current resources and research conducted by or funded by federal agencies and provides recommendations and resources from the field for next steps to improve disability data collection efforts.  (PDF | 1 MB)

FY 2022 Report to the President and Congress

The Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) is a coordinating group of federal department and agency representatives funding disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research. This report details noteworthy activities of the ICDR and its member agencies during the reporting period. In these and other activities, the ICDR is committed to engaging federal partners and stakeholders to ensure the relevance of ICDR activities to the needs of individuals with disabilities, their families, researchers, service providers, employers, and communities.

Federal Funding Opportunities for Disability and Rehabilitation Research: A Toolkit for Disability and Rehabilitation Researchers

Research in the area of disability and rehabilitation is essential to understand the challenges faced by people with disabilities to achieving full and inclusive participation in society. Research in disability and rehabilitation also helps to ensure interventions are developed that are evidence based, accessible, and relevant, and that achieve the best possible outcomes. The purpose of this toolkit is to support disability and rehabilitation researchers in identifying potential funding sources for their work. It provides a list of several federal agencies that fund disability and rehabilitation research, information about the topics they fund, links to program funding sites, as well as resources and tips for applicants. (PDF | 965 KB)

Using Participatory Action Research to Center People With Disabilities in Disability and Rehabilitation Research: A Toolkit for Interagency Collaboration

Ensuring that the perspectives of people with disabilities are prioritized in disability and rehabilitation research is critical to moving the field forward, and promoting and funding participatory action research (PAR) is an important way that federal entities can encourage this. This new toolkit from the ICDR provides an overview of PAR and the benefits of using this research orientation within the field of disability and rehabilitation research. This toolkit highlights how PAR can be used to involve people with disabilities across the entire research process and provides federal resources on PAR. The toolkit also highlights best practices and areas for future research using PAR. The toolkit concludes with a variety of resources for disability and rehabilitation researchers and other stakeholders seeking more information about PAR. (PDF | 955 KB)

FY 2021 Report to the President and Congress

The Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) is a coordinating group of federal department and agency representatives funding disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research. This report details noteworthy activities of the ICDR and its member agencies during the reporting period. In these and other activities, the ICDR is committed to engaging federal partners and stakeholders to ensure the relevance of ICDR activities to the needs of individuals with disabilities, their families, researchers, service providers, employers, and communities. (PDF | 451 KB)

2023 ICDR Stakeholder Meeting: Inclusion of People with Disabilities across Federal Disability and Rehabilitation Research

This 2023 annual virtual stakeholder meeting focused on the theme of inclusion of people with disabilities across all facets of the disability and rehabilitation research landscape. This meeting included a stakeholder panel discussion, presentations on emerging topics in disability and rehabilitation research, concurrent breakout groups for participants to discuss topics related to the ICDR’s core focus areas (COVID-19, equity, and disability data and statistics), and a federal agency panel discussion.

• Report (PDF | 413 KB)
• Video

2023 ICDR Virtual State of the Science Conference on Disability Statistics

The State of the Science Conference on Disability Statistics was conducted by the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) on February 9 and 10, 2023, to convene federal, state, academic, and other partners to discuss the state of the science in disability statistics.

• Key Findings (DOCX | 125 KB)
• Full Summary Report (DOCX | 168KB)
• Recording

The Impact of COVID-19 on Disability Research: A 2022 Update

During the two years since the pandemic began, COVID-19 has had vast local, nationwide, and global impacts across all fields of federal research. These new implications for federal research include impacts to research institution finances, quality and efficiency, knowledge dissemination, preexisting disparities for researchers, research focus, and productivity. (DOCX | 117 KB)
 

Getting the Most Out of Stakeholder Engagement: A Toolkit to Better Understand and Measure Engagement

Getting the Most Out of Stakeholder Engagement: A Toolkit to Better Understand and Measure Engagement is designed to give Administration for Community Living (ACL) staff and leadership guiding principles, promising practices, and resources to help enhance ACL’s stakeholder engagement efforts. It includes practical information about stakeholder engagement—how and when to do it and why it is important—as well as interviews and case studies with examples from across ACL. (PDF | 378 KB)

FY 2021 ICDR Research Highlights

This accomplishments report details the fiscal year (FY) accomplishments and activities of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR). (DOCX | 44 KB)

Medical Rehabilitation: Research and Resources for Interagency Collaboration in an Emerging Field

As the broad field of medical rehabilitation aims to address the complex needs of an aging population experiencing higher rates of chronic conditions, interagency collaboration is needed to innovate and drive the field forward toward this goal. Cost and the complex nature of interventions are significant challenges that often arise when conducting medical rehabilitation research. To promote increased interagency collaboration and address challenges in this field, the ICDR is releasing a toolkit on medical rehabilitation. (PDF | 949 KB)

Assistive Technology and Universal Design: A Toolkit for Interagency Collaboration

Assistive technology is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. In support of Assistive Technology Awareness Month, the ICDR is releasing a toolkit on assistive technology and universal design (AT/UD). This toolkit aims to address the ICDR’s goal of improving interagency collaboration on accessibility and to provide an overview of current research efforts in AT/UD across the federal government. (PDF | 770 KB)

Health Care Access and Quality for People with Disabilities: A Toolkit for Interagency Collaboration

The ICDR’s Health Care Access and Quality for People with Disabilities toolkit provides resources for future research on health care access and equity to address the health disparity issues that people with disabilities face. The toolkit includes an overview of federal programs and research, best practices, and areas for future research on health care access and quality for people with disabilities. (PDF | 306 KB)

Employment for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities: Translating Evidence Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Virtual Symposium

The Employment for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities: Translating Evidence Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Virtual Symposium was conducted by the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR), with sponsorship and support from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (DOCX | 66 KB)

Disability and Emergency Preparedness: Resources and Research for Inclusive Emergency Preparedness Planning

The resources in this toolkit present the current landscape of emergency preparedness planning and response related to disability. These resources can help people with disabilities and their caregivers, emergency managers, first responders, and community-based organizations prepare for emergencies and disasters. They can also help to facilitate further research by federal agencies and promote interagency collaboration related to disability and emergency preparedness. (PDF | 283 KB)

Aging with Disability: A Toolkit for Interagency Collaboration

Each May, the Administration for Community Living observes Older Americans Month. In 2021 the theme is “Communities of Strength”, celebrating the resilience and strength older adults have built during lives filled with successes, failures, joys, and difficulties. The focus this year is on the power of connection and the vital role it plays in well-being. (PDF | 656 KB)

FY 2020 ICDR Research Highlights

This accomplishments report details the fiscal year (FY) accomplishments and activities of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR). During the first part of FY 2020, the ICDR focused on making enhancements to its website to increase collaboration among its member agencies. In addition, the ICDR devoted much of its efforts to the final development of a searchable Government Wide Inventory of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, set to launch in early FY 2021. (DOCX | 2 MB)

Employment: A Toolkit for Interagency Collaboration

The ICDR Employment toolkit promotes additional research by federal agencies and departments as well as collaboration in the field of employment for people with disabilities by describing current employment resources and providing examples of federal employment promotion activities. It also describes resources on various subtopics focusing on the employment of people with disabilities. In addition, the toolkit identifies unexplored employment research areas that could benefit from interagency collaboration. (PDF | 332 KB)

The Impact of COVID-19 on Disability Research: New Challenges and Widening Disparities

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread shutdowns in March 2020 across virtually every sector at the local, state, and federal levels in order to halt the spread of the virus throughout the United States. These shutdowns caused research and development institutions to suspend their research and attempt to transition as many projects as possible to a virtual format. (DOCX | 81 KB)

ICDR History and Significance White Paper and Timeline

The ICDR mission is to promote coordination and collaboration among federal departments and agencies conducting disability, independent living (IL), and rehabilitation research programs, including programs related to AT research and research that incorporates the principles of UD. This resource highlights the importance of the ICDR’s role within the disability community, the ICDR’s achievements, and a future outlook. The ICDR timeline highlights the ICDR’s activities, accomplishments, and events from 1978 through the present. 

• ICDR History Paper (PDF | 1 MB)
• ICDR Timeline (PDF | 811 KB)

Health Information Technology (IT) Toolkit: A Compendium of Accessible & Usable Health IT Resources

The ICDR Health Information Technology (IT) Toolkit is designed to improve access to health IT for people with disabilities and older adults. The toolkit provides an overview of health IT and usability resources, research, and best practices across federal agencies, grantees, and non-federal organizations. Its purpose is to facilitate additional research and collaboration by federal agencies and departments on this topic and provide recommendations focusing on accessible and usable health IT. (PDF | 311 KB)

2016 Report to the President and Congress

The Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) is a coordinating group of federal department and agency representatives funding disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research. (PDF | 575 KB)

ICDR Government-Wide Strategic Plan Development Process - Fiscal Years 2017-2020

This document outline the ICDR Government-Wide Strategic Plan development process. (DOCX | 206 KB)

"Accessibility and Usability in Health Information Technology: A Research & Action Conference to Empower People with Disabilities, Older Adults, and Caregivers" Proceedings

The purpose of this conference was to advance the priority of accessibility in health information technology (IT) systems and tools from a compliance-oriented approach toward one that is user-driven, responsive to human-centered consumer experiences, and results in increased patient engagement and improved health and wellness for individuals with disabilities, older adults, and caregivers. (PDF | 2 MB)

"Disability and Employment Symposium: Research Informing Practice and Policy" Proceedings

This symposium examined the state of the science and interactions among employment research, practice, and policy. In addition, it attendees investigated how research-based knowledge can affect practice and policy, and how practice and policy can influence research. (PDF | 1 MB)

"Roundtable on Accessible Transportation Technologies Research" Proceedings

During this roundtable, held in June 2015, participants shared scholarly and experiential knowledge related to accessible technology and transportation, as well as identified partnership opportunities to spur innovation and increase transportation and mobility options for people with disabilities. (PDF | 1 MB)

Expert Panel Report

This report overviews suggestions and research-based methods for building effective interagency collaboration on disability research. (PDF | 680 KB)

Primer on Interagency Collaboration

The purpose of this primer is to provide members of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) with an overview of the best practices to promote interagency collaboration. (PDF | 1 MB)

Disability and Health Journal Issue on "Aging with Disability"

The special issue of the Disability and Health Journal on “Aging with Disability” is now online with a January 2014 publication date. The issue contains 11 articles based on presentations from the 2011 interagency conference on "Aging with Disability" that NIDRR sponsored along with ACL, NIA, and the ICDR. 

"Research Perspectives on Supporting Section 508 Compliance" Summary of Proceedings

The ICDR hosted this forum to examine the state of the science, explore partnership opportunities, and promote information sharing that will support Section 508 compliance. (PDF | 651 KB)