The Rural Institute is partnering with the Research and Training Center on Promoting Interventions for Community Living (RTC/PICL) Center to study two ways to increase community participation: the Home Usability Program and Out and About. The project is partnering with four Centers for Independent Living.

The Home Usability Program works with individuals with disabilities to self-assess and improve the usability of their homes. Previous research shows that people with disabilities who have more usable homes (accessible bathrooms, for example) are more likely to participate in their communities because they expend less energy in daily self-care, thus freeing up more time for other activities.

Out and About works with participants to set goals for community participation and solve problems related to barriers in the community, such as inaccessible transportation or lack of access to health care. Out and About also builds social networks by using peer support in the pursuit of participants’ goals.

Contact:     Lillie Greiman