The Sonoran UCEDD, through its research and evaluation activities, creates new knowledge to better serve community needs for evidence based practices and supports. Bridging the gap between university expertise and community strengths is at the heart of the UCEDD’s research and evaluation agenda. In all of our research activities, we will rely upon our Community Advisory Council and other self-advocates and families in our community for input on our proposals, methodology and outcomes to ensure that what we propose is responsive to the DD community. To carry out our agenda, we will:

• Increase Our Capacity to Perform Research and Evaluation by seeking collaborations with additional departments and colleges within the UA as well as at other universities and organizations to submit grants in order to further our work.
• Assess Effectiveness of Sonoran UCEDD Projects and other community programs by conducting evaluations of projects and programs in order to determine the effectiveness of interventions.
• Perform community needs assessments to increase knowledge about meeting identified challenges in the communities we serve.
• Concentrate on specific areas of inquiry, including transitions in aging for people with DD and their caregivers.

Current Research Activities