IHDPS Projects - (Alphabetical) Current and Completed
Achieving Success by Promoting Readiness for Education and Employment (ASPIRE)
Year(s): 2013-2020
The Achieving Success by Promoting Readiness for Education and Employment (ASPIRE) project is a consortium of six western states (AZ, CO, MT, ND, SD, UT) funded by the US Department of Education as part of the national PROMISE (Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income) initiative. States awarded PROMISE funding are working to establish and operate model demonstration projects designed to improve the education and employment outcomes of child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients and their families. With colleagues from the University of Montana and the University of Utah, IHDPS staff serve as the Evaluation team for the ASPIRE Project.
CDC Module F Project: Disability Surveillance
Year(s): 2008-2012
Funded by the Center for Disease Control Surveillance grant through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the goal of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Module F Project is to expand disability data surveillance in Kansas by enhancing utilization of existing but underutilized secondary disability data and expanding the use of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to more fully understand and meet the needs of persons with disabilities statewide.
Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL)
Year(s): 2015-2021
Funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL) research activities are organized into 5 discrete but complementary research projects at 4 university research centers. Two projects collect primary data on health insurance consumers with disabilities and on Centers for Independent Living (CIL) administrators, and three projects conduct analyses of large publicly-available population health data. These projects are complemented by an ongoing program of dissemination and utilization, training, and technical assistance. KU-IHDPS researchers oversee CHRIL Research Project 1, health insurance outcomes for working-age consumers with disabilities and administer the National Survey on Health and Disability.
Disability and Health Data Collaborative
Year(s): 2022-Present
In collaboration with researchers from New York, Massachusetts and South Carolina, this project builds upon previous IHDPS work (KS Disability and Health Program, 2016-2022) to study the Medicaid utilization trends of individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities and those with serious and persistent mental illness. The study will allow for comparisons between four unique states and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Evaluation of the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans Under the Affordable Care Act: Immediate and Long-Term Implications for Federal Health Policy
Year(s): 2011-2013
Sponsored by a grant from The Commonwealth Fund, the Evaluation of Pre-Existing Condition Project monitors the implementation, operation, and enrollment in the PCIP programs nationally, with the intent of providing practical information to policy makers to make needed short-term adjustments to the PCIPs and to inform longer-term design and planning of exchange programs, particularly in relation to people with chronic conditions.
Evaluating the Reliability, Validity, and Sensitivity of Person-Centered HCBS Outcome Measures
Years: 2021-2023
IHDPS is collaborating with the University of Minnesota Research and Training Center on Outcome Measurement to lead a field study of Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Outcome Measures. In Kansas, IHDPS will recruit 125 adults with disabilities on HCBS waivers. To learn more about the study and how to participate, visit the HCBS study webpage.
Kansas Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment (DMIE)
Year(s): 2004-2011
Independent, external evaluation of a project to test whether improved health care can prevent or forestall the loss of independence and employment due to a potentially disabling condition.
Kansas Disability and Health Program
Year(s): 2016-2022
Disability and Health Programs are state-wide initiatives funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the CDC funds 19 state programs that work to improve the health and quality of life among people with mobility limitations and/or intellectual disabilities (ID) through adaptation and implementation of evidence-based strategies in their communities. In cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health & Environment, the Institute for Health & Disability Policy Studies leads the effort in Kansas for the next five years. Learn more at the Kansas Disability and Health Program homepage.
Kansas Medicaid: Evaluating Program Satisfaction, Access to Care, and Unmet Needs of Adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI)
Year(s): 2016-2017
Funded by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, this 6-month evaluation project (Health Forward Foundation) will document program satisfaction, access to care and unmet needs for Kansas Medicaid (KanCare) enrollees with serious mental illness (SMI) and identify factors associated with these outcomes. In partnership with Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs), the project will conduct surveys with Medicaid enrollees across the state to document their experiences and concerns. Read the final report of the Kansas Medicaid evaluation project (PDF).
Kansas Medicaid Health Homes
Year(s): 2012-2014
A health home is not a building, a nursing home, or a doctor’s office. The term “health home” refers to a new Kansas Medicaid (KanCare) option to provide coordination of physical and behavioral health care with long term services and supports (LTSS) for people with chronic conditions. Health homes expand upon medical home models to include links to community and social supports. In collaboration with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Division on Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), IHDPS staff are working with colleagues at the KU Medical Center to conduct data analysis to identify the populations and sub-populations of KanCare beneficiaries who may best be served by Health Homes. Learn more at Kansas Medicaid Health Homes.
Kansas Medicaid Wait List Study
Year(s): 2022-Present
IHDPS staff are working with the KU-Center on Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and KU-Center for Research on Aging and Disability (CRADO) to examine the compositions of the Medicaid physical disability and intellectual/developmental disability waivers wait lists. Research activities include surveys and interviews with individuals on the wait list and their families, examination of state-level data and analysis of Medicaid claims data in order to make recommendations to the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) on how best to reduce these wait lists. Further information is available by contacting the study Principal Investigator, Evan Dean (UCEDD).
State of Missouri Partnership for Hope HCBS Waiver Evaluation
Year(s): 2012-2014
In partnership with the University of Missouri Kansas City, KU-IHDPS staff completed three years of Medicaid claims data (State of Missouri) analyses comparing health care utilization and costs for enrollees in the Partnership for Hope waiver for individuals with IDD to those in other IDD waivers in Missouri.
Reforming Social Security's Disability Benefits System
Year(s): 2012-2013
In partnership with the National Disability Institute, the University of Utah, and others, IHDPS staff is working on the Reforming Social Security's Disability Benefits System Project to develop recommendations to modernize and preserve Social Security disability programs in ways that will optimize work opportunities for people with disabilities who are able to work and preserve the safety net for those who cannot.
Kansas STEPS Evaluation Project
Year(s): 2022-Present
This project involves an evaluation of the Kansas Medicaid program Supports and Training for Employing People Successfully (STEPS). STEPS provides people with disabilities and/or behavioral health conditions a path to employment without jeopardizing their Social Security benefits or losing medical insurance coverage.
The Nexus of Employment, Health and Disability
Year(s): 2010-2014
With funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), the Nexus of Employment, Health, and Disability Project documents long-term outcomes associated with increased work earnings and efforts of participants in Working Healthy, examines health and quality of life changes related to work, and fosters innovative data management techniques necessary to identify health disparities.
Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Advancing Employment Equity for Multiply Marginalized People with Disabilities (LU2E-RRTC)
Year(s): 2022-Present
As subcontractors to the Langston University RRTC on this NIDILRR-funded Equity Center, the research center will generate new knowledge leading to a reduction of disparities in employment outcomes among multiply marginalized people with disabilities (i.e., Black, Indigenous, and people of color [BIPOC], LGBTQIA+ status, poverty status, rural geography). IHDPS is collaborating with researchers from Langston to analyze data from our National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD) and conduct a follow-up Delphi study to provide detailed information about employment disparities and barriers.
Using the National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD) to Document the COVID-19 Pandemic Experiences of Working-Age Americans with Disabilities
Year(s): 2021-Present
This project builds upon the success of the existing National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD) and develops partnerships with other NIDILRR-funded projects to develop survey questions, analyze data using appropriate methods, and assure activities are conducted in a rigorous and timely fashion.Use of the well-established NSHD provides the opportunity for collecting longitudinal, pre- and post-pandemic, data.
Findings will be used to develop policy briefs, consumer resources, scholarly journal articles, and specific policy and practice recommendations to address identified pandemic-related issues that affect the health and function, employment, and/or community living of Americans with disabilities. Anticipated outcomes of project activities include increased knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 and improved policies and practices.
WORK Allocation and Assessment Project
Year(s): 2014-2015
IHDPS staff, with funding from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, are working with partners at the KU School of Social Welfare to review the instrument currently being used to assess the service needs of participants in the Work Opportunities Reward Kansans (WORK) optional Medicaid program for people with disabilities who are competitively employed.
Working Healthy: the Kansas Medicaid Buy-In Evaluation
Year(s): 2001-2012
Working Healthy allows people with disabilities to maintain Medicaid coverage when returning to or increasing employment. IHDPS staff members serve as external evaluators of the program. Under the same initiative, efforts continue to focus on increasing employment opportunities for Kansans with disabilities.