Our goal is to conduct applied research and evaluation that will advance knowledge, enhance people's lives and increase communities' effectiveness in supporting its members.
Why do we need applied research?
- Formulating policy
- Planning state and local agency programs
- Providing quality community training, demonstration, and technical assistance
How can individuals and family members help with research?
- Identification
- Development
- Implementation
- Reporting
How do we conduct research?
- Assessments
- Evaluation
- Targeted applied research projects and evaluations of outcome measures
Who is research for?
- Academics
- Researchers
- Service providers
- Policymakers
- People with disabilities
- Families
What We Do
Research
We help our partners gain insight into the problems, determinants, and impacts they seek to understand. Whether your research question considers social, economic, cultural, or environmental factors, we can assist.
Evaluation
Our team conducts policy and program evaluation focused on improving supports and services. We specialize in questions related to people with disabilities, but also bring experience with early childhood, aging, minority, urban, and cross-cultural populations.
How We Do It
We harness the powers of quantitative and qualitative methodologies with a special emphasis on community-based participatory research (CBPR). This approach combines the strengths of an interdisciplinary team of researchers and community partners to extract deep knowledge, guide decision-making, and demonstrate impact.
Our Expertise
- Aging and developmental disabilities
- Culture and disability
- Data collection and analysis
- Data system setup and management
- Existing data analysis
- Focus groups and interviews
- Health and healthy lifestyles
- Medicaid and developmental disabilities
- Program and policy evaluation
- Qualitative and quantitative research
- Report writing
- Self-determination and social capital
- Strategic research planning
- Survey development
Research Projects
- AADD Training for Individuals with DD and Families
- Adult Protective Services (APS) Staff Training Project
- Adult Protective Services Training
- Advancing the Public Health Workforce (Association for Community Living)
- Aligning PCP’s & Patients with Alzheimer’s Research Efforts: MyAlliance for Cognitive Health
- Alzheimer’s Project
- Behavioral Health Network
- BHN for Network Analysis
- CDC Rape Prevention and Education
- Diversity Engagement Focus Groups
- Enhancing the System Response to Adult Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in Missouri (VOYCE)
- Health Disparities
- Health Equity Data Access Program
- Improving the Health of People with Mobility Limitations and People with IDD
- Kansas City Healthy Start Initiative (KCHSI)
- Kansas Cognitive Care Network to Advance Access and Support to Rural Kansas
- Memory Care Home Solutions Project
- Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault
- Missouri Brain Injury Resource Facilitation (MOBIRF) / TBI Workforce
- Missouri Disability and Health Collaborative
- Missouri Perinatal Psychiatric Access Program (MO-PPAP)
- Missouri Quality Outcomes
- Missourians Supporting Early Childhood Administrators
- MO TBI State Partnership Program
- MOCSA Education Programs Evaluation Revamp
- MOCSA Strategic Plan: Project Management and Evaluation
- National Core Indicator Surveys
- NCHPAD State Disability and Health Cooperative Agreement
- No Wrong Door System Governance: Improving Access to LTSS for Individuals & Family Caregivers
- Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute / Children’s Mercy Hospital
- Community listening sessions to identify needs/priorities
- Environmental Scan of health services and supports for youth and families in Kansas City area
- Quality Assurance Report
- Quality Assurance Report – Home Schooling
- South Dakota Brain Injury Needs Assessment
- Students Training in Academia, Health and Research (STAHR)
- Team for Infants Exposed to Substance use (TIES)
- Traumatic Brain Injury Training
- VOYCE
- Workforce Planning
