Illinois Leaders for Equity and Access for People with Disabilities on Healthcare (ILL LEAD on Healthcare)

Adults with disabilities (regardless of type or etiology) are an unrecognized health disparities population, and they face tremendous physical, attitudinal, and structural barriers to healthcare access, quality, and outcomes. Efforts are underway to develop peer-support interventions that break down barriers to care, yet these programs face outreach and recruitment challenges that limit their impact.

Expanding on established community-engaged research partnerships, we will build the capacity of a broad-based consortium of disability community–health leaders and other stakeholder groups to conduct community-relevant patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) while promoting participation of individuals with disabilities.

Specific Aims

1. Build research capacity among disability community–health leaders from across Illinois using established principles of partnership for community-engaged research.
   • Activities
     • In collaboration with disability community partners, engage a cohort of disability community–health leaders from across Illinois (n = 20).
       Establish a research infrastructure through monthly capacity-building meetings and online communities for disability community–health leaders and diverse stakeholders, including clinicians, payers, and researchers. Monthly meetings will emphasize knowledge sharing and strategic planning.
2. Identify PCOR priorities for people with disabilities in Illinois.
   • Activities
     • Conduct a listening tour across Illinois to learn about disability community–identified healthcare disparities.
     • Conduct a Delphi process with disability community–health leaders and clinical and payer stakeholders to establish priorities for PCOR.
3. Develop targeted outreach strategies to promote people with disabilities’ participation in PCOR.
   • Activities
     • Develop and implement tailored community outreach strategies based on community-identified barriers to research participation.
     • Develop a video series to address barriers to participation in PCOR.