Researching people’s experiences of disability is important. It can help public bodies, like the NHS, better understand the needs of people living with disabilities and help them shape services accordingly. Yet research survey questions are often informed by pre-existing understanding – or ‘conceptual models’ – of disability. It is not always clear what assumptions underpin the questions, nor if this impacts the answers people give.

At the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration (NIHR ARC) North Thames, colleagues have been exploring this with people living with disability through their award-winning Understanding Disability Research project. They were curious to know: of the huge number of survey questions that exist in relation to disability, which questions can be linked to different ‘conceptual models’ of disability? And how might this influence the ways in which people with disabilities answer these questions.

 

We have attached visual and accessible versions of the magazine.

You can also check out an animation which summarises the project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc0waae3Nd4

 

Download Magazine (Word, text-only)Download Magazine (PDF)