Improving life for disabled people

Social and health care issues for disabled people are the focus of research at a new institute launched recently at the University.

IDRIS - the Interdisciplinary Disability Research Institute - brings together experts from various fields connected with conducting disability research, to pool ideas and develop ways of assisting disabled people and others who may acquire impairment.

The group will be based in Dundee with a core partner at the University of St Andrews. The group will be led by Professor Jennifer Harris, Chair of Social Science from the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education and the Deputy Director is Dr Thilo Kroll, Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Dr Kroll says, "IDRIS was set up to look at disability in a different way. Traditionally, clinical researchers have studied impairment and function, social scientists looked at social exclusion or coping and so on."

"We want to bring these disciplines together and work with disabled people to develop a research institute that looks at the person and the environment, at the body and the social context. We want IDRIS to be interdisciplinary, relevant to policy, and meaningful in that our research will make an impact on the lives of disabled people."

Initially, the group will work on four programmes:

How technology can be used to improve life for those with a disability

Currently, there is plenty of technology aimed at helping the disabled, but often it is made without the input of disabled people. The IDRIS group will bring technology developers and disabled people together to get the best possible use for technology.

The role exercise plays in preventing poor health

Dr Kroll has been working on a project in the USA looking at the effect of exercise on health in 6,000 people with spinal injuries. This work will be useful to develop exercise programmes for disabled individuals.

Service provisions for homeless and disabled people

Currently, little is known about how and where disabled homeless people access services, what their particular service needs are and how they manage the impact of disability and homelessness.

Access to Health and Social services

This programme will incorporate Professor Harris' work with colleagues from Kings' College London that underpins the National Service Framework for long term conditions.