Living with Disability

The Living with Disability research program aims to generate an evidence base to inform the development of practices, programs and policies to enable community participation of people with a disability and promote their social inclusion.

The program has a bio-psycho-social approach to understanding disability and a systems perspective to enabling participation and inclusion. This recognises that interventions may be targeted at single or multiple levels including; the individual, family, organisation, community or the wider society. The multidisciplinary, whole of life, cross disability focus of this program is unique.

Members are leading researchers drawn from the disciplines of allied health and social work. Together their expertise spans the life course, and overarching issues as well as those specific to particular groups such as people with intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, psychiatric disability, aphasia, voice disorders and chronic illness such as arthritis. Members have expertise in qualitative and quantitative methodologies as well as inclusive research approaches.

Service user perspectives and the lived experiences of people with disability and their families is a key theme. Members of the group have strong partnerships with advocacy and self advocacy groups, health, disability and other human service providers as well as key international disability research centers.

Five overarching research questions guide the work of the research group.

  • How do people with disabilities and their families compare with the general population on dimensions of community participation and social inclusion?
  • What enables community participation or promotes the social inclusion of people with disabilities and their families?
  • Are interventions, programs and policies designed to enable community participation or promote social inclusion of people with disabilities and their families effective?
  • How does the identification of risk for problems with participation inform early intervention
  • What are the key indicators of community participation and social inclusion of people with disabilities and their families and are these different for subgroups or at different life course stages

Examples of current projects are:

  • Living well with aphasia through community aphasia groups - Miranda Rose
  • An exploration of the community mobility difficulties experienced by people with arthritis and related musculoskeletal conditions - Carolyn Unsworth
  • The epidemiology of voice problems in school teachers in New Zealand - Jenni Oates
  • Peer support for voice hearers: a qualitative study of consumer views - Ellie Fossey
  • Speech pathologists perceptions of intervening on the hospital setting communication environment  - Robyn O’ Halloran
  • Unfinished business: student perspectives on disclosure of mental illness and success in VET- Annie Venville
  • Improved identification of patients at risk of depression and optimal targeting of post stroke rehabilitation though novel brain imaging and biomarkers - Leanne Carey 
  • Community mobility for older people - Marilyn De Stefano
  • Self advocacy and social inclusion - Christine Bigby
  • An Ordinary Life – what makes a good group home for people with severe or profound intellectual disability - Tim Clement 
  • Living safer sexual lives: Respectful relationships -  Patsie Frawley
  • Stuttering and Adolescence -  Sue Block
  • Improving functional communication following severe traumatic brain injury  - Jacinta Douglas

For further information on these and other projects see member’s individual web pages.

Christine Bigby, leads the Living with Disability Research Group in the School of Allied Health, supervises postgraduate students and teaches a Field of Social Work practice subject in the Department of Social Work and Social Policy.

Christine Bigby, Health Sciences