By Laurel White
A School of Education faculty member recently received a $7 million funding award for a five-year project aimed at improving access to community health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The project will be led by Karla Ausderau, a professor of occupational therapy in the School of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and investigator at the Waisman Center. The research team will test how adding a comprehensive community health intervention within Special Olympics compares to regular Special Olympics sports and health programming to improve health care outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Ausderau says she is excited by the project’s capacity to improve the lives of individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“This effort will facilitate opportunities for individuals to access quality health care that meets their needs in their local communities,” Ausderau says. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with community members and adults with lived experience of intellectual and developmental disabilities to address their health care priorities.”
The research team is partnering with Special Olympic local programs in four states to enroll 400 adults between 21 and 65-years-old. Each Special Olympic local program that participates will be selected to either the comprehensive community health intervention or Special Olympic sport and health programming. Special Olympic local programs in each group will be matched on state, population density, and average income and education levels of the region. The project builds on longstanding community partnerships with Special Olympics and other community members including self-advocates, care partners, and health care providers.
Approximately 7 to 8 million individuals living in the United States are impacted by an intellectual and developmental disability diagnosis. Compared to people without intellectual and developmental disabilities, the population experiences a higher proportion of co-occurring physical and mental health conditions, unmet health care needs, limited access to resources, and lower quality of care.
Ausderau’s project is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), a nonprofit organization with a mission to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better-informed health care decisions. The study was selected through PCORI’s highly competitive review process in which patients, caregivers, and other stakeholders join scientists to evaluate proposals.
Broadly, Ausderau’s work focuses on studying the daily occupations of different groups of people and how those occupations ultimately impact health, well-being, and overall daily participation. She aims to work with a variety of community partners to ensure the voices of study participants are present in research.
Ausderau has also published studies about the impact of autism spectrum disorder on family mealtimes, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the disability community, and impact of prenatal Zika virus exposure on neurodevelopmental outcomes. She also oversees the School of Education’s partnership with the Capital High Parenting Program through the Madison Metropolitan School District.
Ausderau’s award has been approved pending completion of PCORI’s business and programmatic review and issuance of a formal award contract.