The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has published a new Long-Range Plan for 2018-2023.
NIDILRR’s 2018-2023 Long-Range Plan presents a five-year agenda that will advance applied disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research. NIDILRR intends for this plan to emphasize consumer relevance and scientific rigor, to present an agenda that is scientifically sound and accountable and, as a result, to contribute to the refinement of national policy affecting people with disabilities.
The new Long-Range Plan builds on the work of the 2013–2017 Long-Range Plan while responding to new developments in the disability, independent living, and rehabilitation research field and in government. It continues to stress the importance of NIDILRR’s significant role as a research institute in the public interest, carrying out a scientific research agenda to meet the diverse needs of people with disabilities.
The new Long-Range Plan extends NIDILRR’s emphasis on research outcome domains of community living and participation, health and function, and employment. It also reinforces the need for investment in three areas that support outcomes across these domains: technology for access and function; disability statistics; and a nationwide network of technical assistance, training, and research centers to support implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Activities that promote the quality and use of NIDILRR-sponsored research—capacity building and knowledge translation—will also continue under the new Long-Range Plan.
The new Long-Range Plan also includes themes that emerged from public input, the state of people with disabilities in the U.S., federal research planning, key accomplishments of NIDILRR grantees since the last plan, and a detailed research agenda.