Spring 2025

How Can AI Improve Disaster Planning & Response

The World Institute on Disability is using artificial intelligence (AI) to facilitate connections among organizations run by staff and leaders with disabilities in order to speed the allocation of vital resources needed for efficient disaster planning and recovery. Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) director, Allen Heinemann, PhD, serves on a special interest group focusing on disaster preparedness for people with spinal cord injury.

CROR Fellows: Amy McArthur, PhD, OTR/L

Amy contributes to a CROR project to identify best practices for providing person-centered home and community-based services (HCBS). In this article, she shares more about her work and how she analyzes interviews with both HCBS providers and recipients to uncover key themes to improve the delivery of person-centered services.

Meet Amy

Get Involved in Our Research!

We are seeking current and former HCBS recipients to test a set of surveys designed to measure the person-centeredness of their services. The surveys were developed by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on HCBS at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

Eligible participants will complete two one-hour surveys via phone or Zoom about their experiences with HCBS.

See If You Are Eligible

We are testing an online training for direct support professionals (DSPs) on enhancing person-centered HCBS using a communication skill known as motivational interviewing. DSPs will complete up to 30 minutes of 2-5 minute "microlessons" each week and provide feedback and suggestions for improving the training. If you are a current or former DSP, you may be eligible to participate.

Learn More About the DSP Training

INside the OUTcomes: A Rehabilitation Research Podcast

On this episode of INside the OUTcomes: A Rehabilitation Research Podcast, Elissa Larkin, CCC-SLP, HEC-C, a research speech-language pathologist in Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment, shares insights about an online training course aimed at helping service industry employees improve communication with customers who have communication disabilities.

Listen to the Podcast

LITERATURE CORNER

A curated roundup of recent HCBS-related articles for our readers to enjoy

Medicaid Waiver Tracker: Approved and Pending Section 1115 Waivers by State. KFF. March 14, 2025.

Using the Community Resilience Model and Project ECHO to Build Resiliency in Direct Support Professionals: Protocol for a Longitudinal Survey. Lenker KP, Felix LL, Cichy S, Lehman E, Logan JM, Murray M, Kraschnewski JL. JMIR Research Protocols. March 6, 2025.

Technology Supports Connection: Findings from the Information and Referral/Assistance National Survey. Issue brief, ADvancing States. March 2025.

Supporting the Home Care Workforce Across the Southern United States: Impetus, Exploration, and Policy Strategies. Sanderson B, Obbin S, Williams K, McCall S, Michaelson M. Health Affairs Scholar. March 2025.

Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Spending and Nursing Home Use by Individuals Under the Age of 44. Kim S, Pan Z, Koney-Laryea N, Jung HY, Jan S, Ryskina KL. Inquiry. January 2025.

HCBS Quality Matters newsletter is produced by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) in the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. It is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant 90RTGE0004). The contents of this newsletter do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR.

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