Improving Methods for Conducting Research with People with Cognitive Disabilities in Virtual Environments

Under this particular DRRP priority, the grantee must conduct research toward the development of rigorous research methods and approaches that can be used in virtual environments to enable people with cognitive disabilities to share valid, reliable, and meaningful data about their experiences and outcomes. People with cognitive disabilities may include but are not limited to those with intellectual or developmental disabilities, serious mental illness, traumatic brain injury, dementia, or stroke.

The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living establishes a priority for a Disability Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP) on Improving Methods for Conducting Research with People with Cognitive Disabilities in Virtual Environments. The DRRP must contribute to the outcome of establishing new research methods and approaches to enable people with cognitive disabilities to share valid, reliable, and meaningful data about their experiences and outcomes when participating in research that uses remote virtual technologies.

To contribute to this outcome, the DRRP must--

1. Conduct research in the following priority areas, focusing on people with cognitive disabilities as a group or on people in specific cognitive disability subpopulations:
1. Identifying the challenges and consequences of conducting research in remote virtual environments with people with cognitive disabilities, including those with the greatest support needs.
2. Developing research methods and approaches to overcome the challenges and minimize the adverse consequences of conducting research in remote virtual environments with people with cognitive disabilities.
3. Testing the effectiveness of the research methods and approaches developed in (a)(ii) of this priority, in enabling people with cognitive disabilities to share, and researchers to collect valid, reliable, and meaningful research data.
2. Focus its research on a specific stage of research. If the DRRP is to conduct research that can be categorized under more than one stage, including research that progresses from one stage to another, those stages must be clearly specified and justified. These stages: exploration and discovery, intervention development, intervention efficacy, and scale-up evaluation, are defined in this funding opportunity announcement. Applicants must justify the need and rationale for research at the proposed stage or stages and describe fully an appropriate methodology or methodologies for the proposed research.
3. Conduct knowledge translation activities (i.e., utilization, dissemination) to facilitate stakeholder (e.g., individuals with cognitive disabilities, researchers, policymakers, practitioners) use of the knowledge, research tools, technologies, or products that result from the research activities conducted under paragraph (a) of this priority.
4. Demonstrate, in its original application, that people with cognitive disabilities from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds will be included in study samples in sufficient numbers to generate knowledge and products that are relevant to the racial and ethnic diversity of the population of people with cognitive disabilities being studied. The DRRP must describe and justify, in its original application, the planned racial and ethnic distribution of people with cognitive disabilities who will participate in the proposed research activities.
5. Involving people with cognitive disabilities and members of other key stakeholder groups in the activities conducted under paragraph (a) – (c) to maximize the relevance and usability of the new knowledge and products generated and distributed by the DRRP. Such involvement is consistent with Executive Order 14091, Section 5: Delivering Equitable Outcomes in Partnership with Underserved Communities.

• City or township governments
• County governments
• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)
• Small businesses
• Special district governments
• State governments

Estimated Total Program Funding: