By Jill Pease
Public transportation can be an important tool for promoting independence and full participation in society for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDD. Yet, opportunities for travel training for this population are often lacking.
As part of a $7.5 million study, a team of researchers from the University of Florida, Temple University, the University of Minnesota and the University of New Hampshire, will compare the effectiveness of two different travel training approaches for young people with IDD. One approach will use peer supporters with intellectual and developmental disabilities to train participants, and in the second, a professional staff person serves as the trainer.
Jessica Kramer, Ph.D., OTR/L, an associate professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of occupational therapy, serves as the study’s co-principal investigator. Kramer and her colleagues have an established history of partnering with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including pilot work leading up to the award and preparation of the project.
“These collaborations enhance both the process and outcomes of this project,” Kramer said. “Partnering with young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other partners in the creation of our study design enhances the accessibility, safety and feasibility of the research procedures. And the range of perspectives and lived experiences represented by the team makes it more likely that what we learn from this study will be relevant and meaningful for people’s everyday lives.”
For the new study, eight community service organizations across the United States will provide travel training, led either by peer supporters or staff, to 300 young adults ages 18-27 who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The eight-week training, called Chance to Ride, teaches young adults with IDD how to use public transportation safely and independently. Participants will learn about signs, safety, interacting with other people in the community, how to prepare for a trip, and how to deal with unexpected situations. Then, they will practice using public transportation with help from the Chance to Ride provider until they can take trips on their own.
Using responses from participant surveys upon completion of the program and four months later, researchers will measure outcomes including loneliness, satisfaction with social activities and travel skills. Researchers also will assess participants’ employment, use of health care services and health-related quality of life.
Kramer will collaborate with the UF Center for Autism and Related Disabilities in Gainesville, Florida, and with the Arc of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida, to implement the training.
A 20-member advisory council representing lived experience of IDD, family members, providers, clinicians, funders/payers, policy makers, advocacy groups and content specialists, will provide feedback about the implementation and outcomes of the study, so findings can help as many people as possible.
“This study is exciting for a lot of reasons,” said Beth Pfeiffer, Ph.D., the study’s principal investigator and a professor of health and rehabilitation sciences at Temple University. “Community mobility is a barrier for this particular group transitioning to adulthood. There are also a lot of workforce issues and shortages for this population. It’s important to find an effective method in which peer support is used and increased.
“Our hope is that this study can help reduce these barriers and that these individuals will have more independent forms of transportation so that they can live independently and engage with their communities.”
The study is funded by an award to Temple University from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), an independent non-profit organization authorized by Congress with a mission to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research. The award has been approved pending completion of PCORI’s business and programmatic review and issuance of a formal award contract.