ICDR Reports

This section contains ICDR reports, studies, initiatives, and conference proceedings. Browse for materials by year, or use the search bar at the top right of this page, and every page of the ICDR website.

2023

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.

2022

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.

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.

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

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.

2021

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2020

The ICDR initiated a focus on inclusion of people with disabilities among health and wellness research as well as broader public health programs and initiatives that include people with disabilities as a target population. The purpose of the toolkit on health disparities and disabilities in research is to present resources across federal agencies, federal grantees, and non-federal entities conducting health and wellness research and implementing public health programs and initiatives.

As part of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research’s (ICDR) Strategic Plan for 2018–2021, the ICDR Community Participation and Integration Workgroup identified that the impact of CIL service types and delivery methods need to be studied further. This workgroup suggested that a research plan be developed to focus on CIL service delivery and outcomes in order to identify and share effective practices. The ICDR emphasizes the importance of CILs optimizing and expanding their services, as they are key local providers for their consumers.

The ICDR Housing Toolkit provides resources to facilitate further federally-funded research in the area of housing and to foster interagency collaboration in the field of housing resources for people with disabilities. The toolkit provides current housing resources, examples of best practices across the United States, current federally-funded research being conducted, measurement tools, web resources, and trainings.

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.

2019

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) (Public Law 113-128) included a requirement for the ICDR to develop a comprehensive government-wide strategic plan for disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research.

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.