Introduction
The goal of the Research Utilization Award (RUA) from the Research Utilization Support and Help (RUSH) project was to distribute the results of Disability Access research to a wider audience within Indian country.
Three major activities took place under this award:
1) A multi-method information use survey was conducted to determine the means by which people with disabilities, their family members and non-disabled tribal members receive information. It was hypothesized that greater use is made of electronic media than generally assumed in the research literature.
2) A computer-based training module focused on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) was developed and evaluated.
3) Dissemination of research results occurred through training demonstrations conducted on several reservations not included in the original Disability Access project, presentations at tribal-focused conferences, articles in community newsletters and articles written for publication in academic journals.
This final report summarizes activities of survey design and data collection, plans for information use report, qualitative interviews, document collection, IEP Test and IEP involvement form data collection, dissemination, conference presentations and short-term outcomes. All of these topics were discussed in detail in quarterly progress reports previously submitted. Outcome data are discussed for the Individualized Education Plan training evaluated on seven reservations; Spirit Lake, Turtle Mountain, Fort Berthold, Fort Peck, Sisseton, Standing Rock and White Earth. The report concludes with an extensive discussion of perceptions regarding the impact of the Research Utilization Award and implications for other National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) grantees doing research on American Indian populations.
Data collection instruments were submitted separately. These include the Information Use Survey, IEP Test with IEP involvement form, short form of the IEP Test and structured interview questions. Conference presentations and copies of articles for community newsletters have also been submitted prior to this report. |
