People with disabilities remain overlooked in health research. Several prominent governing bodies, such as the World Health Organization, the Lancet Commission on Disability and Health, and CIHR, call for the implementation of more anti-ableist health care systems and research. Anti-ableist approaches (e.g., strategies, theories, and practices that challenge and counter ableism) aim to reduce disability-based inequities through research, policy and practice. Identifying and applying anti-ableist research strategies can therefore advance health equity and improve health outcomes for people with disabilities. 

Our team includes researchers with disabilities who contribute lived experience and expertise in ableism. Our objectives include: (1) to synthesize the literature on anti-ableist and disability inclusive strategies, models, theories, frameworks and guiding principles for including people with disabilities in health research (as participants and as researchers) and to identify their common elements; (2) to reach consensus about how meaningful the key components of these models, theories, frameworks and guiding principles are for people with disabilities, and experts in ableism, through a Delphi process to inform the development of an anti-ableism (REACH: Research Equity Advancement for Communities with Disabilities in Health) framework and guideline.

Principal Investigator
Dr. Sally Lindsay, Senior Scientist, Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital; Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto

Co-Investigators
Dr. Cynthia Bruce, Associate Professor, Music Therapy, Concordia University

Dr. Natalina Martiniello, Assistant Professor, Vision Rehabilitation, School of Optometry, University of Montreal

Dr. Sarah Munce, Senior Scientist and Associate Chief of Implementation Science, Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital; Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; Affiliated Scientist, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto

Dr. Danielle Peers, Associate Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation - Academic Programs, University of Alberta; Canada Research Chair in Disability and Movement Cultures

Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work; Department of Ophthalmology, Queens University

Dr. Gregor Wolbring, Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Community Health Science, Program in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, University of Calgary

Coming soon!

Coming soon!