FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (September 2007)
Contact: Kelsey Johnson, Communications Specialist, 979-862-4990 or kelsey_johnson@tamu.edu
Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M Awarded Funding for 'Lessons from Katrina and Rita' Project
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – The Center on Disability and Development (CDD) at Texas A&M University with its partners Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) at Memorial Hermann|TIRR and the Center for Persons with Disabilities (CPD) at Utah State University have been awarded funding in the amount of $200,000 from the Center for Disease Control's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in collaboration with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) for a research project called "Lessons from Katrina and Rita."
"Lessons from Katrina and Rita" is a year-long collaborative study of the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on people with disabilities and chronic diseases, examining the barriers and disruptions they experienced in their lives, services, and supports, the strategies they have used to reestablish their lives, and their disaster related needs during the recovery phase of disaster. Specifically, this study will examine the factors that affect the recovery of individuals with intellectual disabilities or chronic diabetes with the goal to produce evidence-based knowledge that will be of use in mitigating the effects of disaster on these populations.
The 2000 U.S. Census indicated that approximately 1.7 million individuals reside in nursing homes and that roughly 2.7 million individuals have two or more disabilities that involve self-care limitations. A survey of heads of households in San Antonio shelters after Hurricane Katrina indicated that 42.2% of households had a member with chronic disease and 27.6% had a member with a physical or mental disability.
Grant writer and principal investigator Dr. Laura Stough says that the study holds promise of filling a research gap.
"Almost no research exists on the direct experiences of individuals with disabilities during the recovery phase of disaster," Stough says. "Our work will help us better understand those factors that affect individuals with intellectual disabilities or diabetes post-disaster and give voice to their experiences following these two large-scale disasters."
For more information, contact Dr. Laura Stough, Interdisciplinary Training Coordinator for the Center on Disability and Development, at 979-845-8257 or lstough@coe.tamu.edu.
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