GREIMAN: RTC KANSAS: Promoting Interventions for Community Living (RTC / PICL)
Project Description:
The University of Kansas Research and Training Center on Independent Living (RTC/IL) has been awarded a five-year, $4.375 million grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research to promote community participation for adults with physical disabilities. The project is a collaboration with the University of Montana, and will be codirected by Glen W. White at KU and Craig Ravesloot at Montana.
The new Research and Training Center on Promoting Interventions for Community Living (RTC/PICL) will investigate the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions that modify home environments and enhance the personal skills of people with disabilities as a way to increase their community participation. It will also promote the dissemination and utilization of successful practices.
The Center will study two complementary interventions. Home Base teaches individuals with disabilities to self-assess and improve the usability of their homes. Ravesloots previous research shows that people with disabilities who have more usable homes (for example, in their bathrooms) are more likely to participate in their communities because they expend less energy in daily self-care, thus freeing up more time for other activities.
In addition to the environmental focus of this intervention, Home Base uses problem-solving and goal-setting to build participants self-determination and capacity for making home modifications. Home Base also assists nonprofit Centers for Independent Living (CILs), which provide advocacy and services for people with disabilities, to build a community-wide Home Usability Network to support their consumers who want to make home improvements.
The other intervention, Out and About, teaches participants to set goals for community participation and solve problems related to barriers in the community, such as inaccessible transportation or lack of access to health care. Out and About also builds social networks by using peer support in the pursuit of participants goals. This intervention incorporates two evidence-based programs from the RTC/ILs previous work, Health Access for Independent Living and Living Well with a Disability.
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information, Other Direct/Model Services
Area of Emphasis
Health-Related Activities, Housing-Related Activities, Recreation-Related Activities
Target Audience:
Adults with Disabilities
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Disadvantaged Circumstances
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
National
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
