Disability Policy Research Program

What the research project is about:

The aim of this project is to determine the experiences of parents and caregivers of youth with disabilities when accessing government-funded disability programs across Canada. Specifically, our objective is to identify the factors (barriers and facilitators) that influence the ability of this population to access disability programs. This project involves a mixed-methods analysis, which includes a quantitative phase (online survey) followed by a qualitative phase (semi-structured interviews).

In total, we had 499 participants complete the online survey and 81 participants complete the interviews. Participants for both phases varied widely with respect to province/territory of residence, NDD diagnosis of the child in their care, income level, community type and Indigenous self-identification.

Publications:

See our paper in Research in Developmental Disabilities

Submissions and Reports:

Results from this project have contributed to a submission to the Government of Canada and included in two reports, a Federal and Provincial/Territorial Disability Policy Report, each providing a comprehensive summary of disability policy across Canada.

Presentations:

Results from this project were presented at the Luke’s Legacy Family Research Rounds in October 2022.

This work has also been presented at the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) Annual Conferences in 2020 and 2021, at the Kids Brain Health Network Conference in November 2020, and as part of a panel presentation at the Kids Brain Health Network Conference in October 2023.

ADVANCE Network

Building results from this project and the disability policy in Canada reports linked above, we have created the Alliance for Disability Voices, Advocacy, and National Community Empowerment (ADVANCE) Network, a pan-Canadian Network bringing together academics, persons with lived and living experience (PWLLE), community organizations, and decision-makers, with the aim of strengthening the equity, efficiency, and accessibility of disability programs for youth with disabilities and their families.

Through a phased co-design approach, the ADVANCE Network will mobilize co-produced research, Indigenous-led inquiry, and implementation science to generate, test, and embed equity-centered solutions in disability policy and practice across Canada.

Read more about the ADVANCE Network here!