Project Description:
Project REDD Description 2016-2017
Project REDD: Research and Education on Disability and Disaster, conducts basic research on the effects of disaster on individuals with disabilities, as well as evaluation research on projects that deliver direct services during disaster. Project REDD also provides evidence-based workshops, presentations, technical support, and products for practitioners in the field of emergency management.
Dr. Laura Stough, along with Dr. Ilan Kelman at University College London, published the first academic book on how disasters effect people with disabilities entitled Disability and Disaster: Exchanges and Explorations. The book included 19 chapters first-authored by individuals with disabilities and their family members, as well as several leaders in the field of disaster risk reduction. In addition, Project REDD staff have published journal articles in interdisciplinary journals such as Disasters, International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, as well as chapters in the Handbook on Disaster Research, and Methods for Disaster Mental Health Research. REDD staff have also contributed articles to the Texas Disability Integration Newsletter, and the Natural Hazards Observer, published by the Center on Disaster Risk Reduction at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Project REDD staff have conducted research on the effects of disaster on individuals with disabilities through multiple projects including the long-term recovery of individuals impacted by Hurricane Katrina, sheltering during Hurricane Ike, the Bastrop County Complex Wildfire, and the Alabama tornados of 2011. Funding for Project REDD since its inception in 2006 has totaled over $300K for research projects and over $500K for community-based services.
Dr. Stough currently serves on the State of Texas Disability Task Force on Emergency Management and is a Fellow at the Disaster Risk Reduction Center at Texas A&M University. Project REDD staff regularly present at professional conferences and workshops and collaborate in presenting with emergency management professionals throughout the State of Texas. It has developed several widely used products, including the Mobile TIPs, which is a one-stop web-based application for Texas emergency responders and disaster organizations that provides information for individuals with disabilities and their families about supports resources, and contacts for people with disabilities in disaster. According to Google Analytics, the Mobile TIPs is accessed over 4000 a year by users throughout all 50 states in the U.S. as well as by users in 40 other countries. The State of Texas Office of Emergency Management has included the Mobile TIPs as part of its Functional Needs Toolkit and the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii adapted the Mobile TIPs for use in the State of Hawaii. Project REDD responds on a weekly basis to emails or calls from fire departments, police departments, MHMR offices, and other public entities.
Project REDD maintains communication with the Texas Governor's Office on Disability, the State of Texas Office of Emergency Management, Texas Disability Rights, Texas Interfaith Disaster Response, Central Texas Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster, Gulf Coast Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster, the National Center on Post Traumatic Stress Disaster, the University of Texas Southwest Medical School, the Independent Living Research Utilization center at The Institution for Rehabilitation Research Memorial Hermann Hospital, and the American Association on Health and Disabilities as well as other organizations. Project REDD has established linkages with other UCEDDs who are also conducting research in this area including UCEDDs at the University of New Mexico, the University of Kansas, Utah State University, the University of Wyoming, the University of Southern Mississippi, the Temple UCEDD, and the University of Delaware UCEDD.
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities, Quality of Life, Other
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Adults with Disabilities, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Urban, Other
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Mulit-County, State, Regional, National
