Accomplishments 2023: Stakeholder Engagement

• 2023 By the Numbers
• Research, Evaluation, and Analytic Services
• Training and Technical Assistance
• Product Development
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Strategic Communication and Outreach
• Accessibility Services
• Website and Software Development

Stakeholder Engagement

New Editions believes in the importance of engaging stakeholders in all project phases, including planning, implementation, and follow-up or promotion. In addition, our efforts focus on meaningful engagement while considering barriers to engagement, including lack of digital access and literacy. This year, we organized, hosted, and co-facilitated virtual stakeholder meetings on a variety of topics; matched researchers and brought them together to discuss their research and future needs; hosted listening sessions with federal staff, grantees, advocacy organizations, service providers, and consumers; presented to program leaders and program staff; and conducted group discussions with state representatives.

• Presented interim and final findings from a project focused on promoting equity in federal procurement to agency staff at the Small Business Administration (SBA). As part of the project, New Editions also developed a definition of equity in federal procurement and a logic model for use in future equity in procurement evaluation efforts. To ensure the potential use of the definition and logic model by SBA and other federal agencies, New Editions obtained and incorporated feedback from federal stakeholders, including SBA and General Services Administration staff. SBA staff were engaged via email and virtual Zoom meetings.
• Presented the findings from the adult protective services (APS) client outcomes study that New Editions designed and conducted for ACL between 2019-2022. Forums included a National Adult Protective Services Association Research to Practice webinar, the 27th annual meeting of the Virgina Coalition for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, and the 2023 Gerontological Society of America.  
• Coordinated and hosted 19 virtual stakeholder match-making sessions for the Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). These sessions provided stakeholders with an opportunity to connect with each other to share information, discuss common research interests, and identify partners for research collaboration. Across the 19 sessions, 31 stakeholders made presentations about their research interests related to NIDILRR’s outcome domains and 82 participants attended and participated in the sessions. Presentation topics covered a wide range of research and collaboration interests and examples include: social determinants of health for people with disabilities, aging with a disability, long COVID, wheelchair technology, vocational rehabilitation for American Indians, knowledge translation, and employment and economic outcomes for people with disabilities. At the conclusion of the sessions, a “database” of all stakeholders who participated was distributed to facilitate future research collaboration.
• Provided support for NIDILRR meetings for grantees, stakeholders, and partners. In 2023, these meetings included: Advanced Rehabilitation Research and Training (ARRT) Project Directors Meeting, ARRT Postdoctoral Fellows Meeting, and Section 21 Capacity Building Grantee Meeting. This year we also supported a two-part webinar series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act (The Rehab Act at 50 years Part 1: Origins, Evolution, & Lived Reality and Part 2: Our Future: Youth & Young Adult Engagement & Involvement in Disability Advocacy)
• Supported the Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR) State of the Science Conference on Disability Statistics. The conference brought together a wide variety of stakeholders, including representatives from over 20 federal agencies, over 50 universities, and over 25 state agencies. The conference addressed important topics in the field, including: linking datasets can expand the scope of research about people with disabilities; balancing the tension between rigor and relevance of research; identifying specific subgroups of disability to ensure all disability groups are represented; including people with disabilities in every step of the research process; communicating the limitations of data and using alternative and inclusive strategies to expand the types of stories that are told; and making data accessible and user-friendly to a wider range of individuals.
• Provided planning, coordination, and support services for the ICDR Executive Committee Meetings. Supported three ICDR executive committee meetings to bring together designated representatives from each member agency to share activities and efforts from across the federal government, continue the work of finalizing and implementing the government-wide strategic plan, and identify opportunities to collaborate and leverage resources and efforts.
• Supported the June 2023 ICDR Stakeholder Meeting: Inclusion of People with Disabilities across Federal Disability and Rehabilitation Research. This meeting served as an opportunity to bring together diverse audiences to discuss the following topics: strategies to engage people with lived experience to help inform the federal research agenda; presentations on emerging topics in rehabilitation research; breakout sessions focusing on COVID-19, equity, and disability data and statistics; and federal agency discussions on various programs and initiatives that benefit the disability and rehabilitation community.
• Supported the FY 2023 ICDR Lunch and Learn Series on topics related to disability and rehabilitation to highlight the work of ICDR member agencies and organizations. This seven session series covered the following topics: Tools for Exploring the Disability and Rehabilitation Federal Funding Landscape; COVID-19 Data on Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; Disability Cultural Competence in Healthcare; How Did the COVID-19 Recession Impact People with Disabilities in Rural America?; Emergency Preparedness and the Impact of Climate Change on People with Disabilities; Disparities in Health Care in Medicare Advantage Associated with Dual Eligibility; Participatory Action Research with People with Disabilities. Recordings can be found on the ICDR website.