Analysis of 2009 ICDR Call for Comments

Public policy, in general, and specifically the development of public agency agendas and activities are most effectively crafted by including the participation of a wide range of stakeholders (Ward, Baker and Moon, 2009).  This participatory approach is particularly valuable when dealing with issues related to vulnerable populations such as people with disabilities.  Development and articulation of comprehensive, relevant, effective and sustainable federal disability and rehabilitation research agendas; buttressed by appropriate by policies and funding opportunities, needs to be informed by input from people with disabilities, family members and service providers.

In March 2009, the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) launched a three-week Web-based initiative and ‘call for comments’ to help inform the development of federal disability and rehabilitation research agendas in 2010. Registered participants were invited to make comments on six key themes related to the research agenda. Subsequently, participants were invited to review all comments submitted and vote on their top 10 concerns in each topic area during a specified one-week period.

1. Overall, the initiative garnered a large number of thoughtful recommendations from the public on the six topics: 1) coordination and collaboration among federal agencies (158 responses)
2. health information technology and/or electronic health records (84 responses)
3. health disparities (133 responses)
4. health promotion in the workplace (58 responses)
5. employment and health (112 responses)
6. other critical research issues (303 responses).

A rigorous qualitative analysis of the responses was conducted to advance the ICDR’s stated goal of identifying the top ten public concerns in each of the topic areas.

Read more:

• Responses to 2009 ICDR Call for Recommendations on Emerging Disability Research Topics