A rapid review informing an assessment tool to support the inclusion of lived experience researchers in disability research

Abstract

Appreciating that progress is being made in terms of valuing researchers with lived experience in research about disability, far more efforts are nonetheless needed to redress ableism and to further advance inclusion. Addressing this policy issue, this rapid review aims to inform researchers with disability and their genuine allies about: a) scholarly discussions concerning the inclusion of researchers with lived experience of disability in lived experience led or co-produced disability research; and b) a practical disability research assessment tool to support this greater inclusion. The review was informed by thematic analysis as applied to 13 publications retrieved from a rapid review of ProQuest Central, Scopus, Education Source, Google Scholar and Google Chrome databases. An additional six publications were identified from peer suggestions and hand searches of citations. The three themes identified each inform about ways of including people with lived experience of disability in research about disability across respective areas of designing disability research, conducting disability research, and disseminating and evaluating disability research findings. This exploratory paper offers a preliminary, evidence-based assessment tool to help to include more researchers with lived experience of disability as leaders and co-producers of disability research.