The Association of University Centers on Disability (AUCD) through a partnership with The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) is pleased to announce the recipients of our 2024 grants for the Disability and Health Secondary or Existing Data Analysis funding opportunity. These grants will support three organizations to conduct timely analyses of existing data to answer targeted research or policy questions related to disability and health.  
 
The Awardees
 

• Massachusetts Department of Health: Their project will use data to explore the characteristics of people with disabilities who were vaccinated at mass vaccination sites vs. medical providers/retail pharmacies vs. in-home vaccination. The project will work to answer the question as to whether otherwise-eligible people with disabilities delay or forego vaccination due to the inability to access vaccination sites. The team will also determine the best way to communicate public health information to people with disabilities.
  
  
• Utah State University: The team will use data to determine the factors that are associated with the patterns and prevalence of chronic health conditions among adults with disabilities and the factors that are associated with the patterns and prevalence of frequent mental distress among adults with a disability. The project will examine the impact of additional variables including age, rural/urban residence, disability type, health insurance access, presence of chronic health conditions, and social characteristics.   
  
  
• Washington State University: This project will examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of people with disabilities from the direct impact of the disease to the indirect impact of the pandemic on health and access to healthcare. Outcomes will help identify evidence-based priority areas and demonstrate the crucial need for disability-inclusive plans for future pandemic planning.  

We congratulate the awardees and thank them for their dedication and innovation. We look forward to working with them and learning from their projects. We also thank all the applicants who submitted their proposals and shared their vision with us. We appreciate your passion and commitment to data analysis.