Department of Education
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
Rehab BRIEFs
Each year hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on research that will lead to improvement in the quality of life for disabled people. Unfortunately, some of the results of that research are never utilized by those most critically in need—practitioners, students, educators, administrators of rehabilitation programs, and disabled consumers. In an effort to fill this gap in research utilization and information dissemination, the Department of Education sponsors the publication of short, non-technical summaries of longer research reports—the Rehab BRIEFs. These are designed to be read easily by those who are not familiar with research jargon and who might be intimidated by long descriptions of research methodologies.
Conwal Incorporated subcontracted this work to New Editions Consulting, Inc. A New Editions team of rehabilitation, writing, and production professionals selected topics, researched, wrote, edited, proofread, and coordinated the printing of 12 highly readable and useful BRIEFs each year. A four-member advisory board chosen from the rehabilitation community participated in the nomination and selection of topics. New Editions’ researchers then used online database sources to procure research documentation that provided the information needed by the target audience for each topic. Once a draft BRIEF was produced, it was reviewed by two experts in that particular research field. New Editions then oversaw the production of each issue, including proofing galleys, approving bluelines, and disseminating the final product. The Rehab BRIEFs required select, concise reporting from New Editions’ writing staff, including the use of an engaging writing style and an attention-getting format.
Effective research utilization is a direct result of information being presented in a way that best fits the needs of the user. New Editions’ work on this project helped to ensure that state-of-the-art advancements in disability and rehabilitation research, instead of being buried unread on library shelves, reach the people who need them the most.
