About the Out and About Program

In the first photo, six people are seated at an outdoor patio with a green umbrella. One of them is a wheelchair user. The second photo shows a wheelchair user at a crowded baseball game
Left photo courtesy Healthy Community Living. Right photo courtesy of Guy Fisher.

What is Out and About?

Out and About is a program that focuses on the community participation barriers of people with mobility limitations and creating solutions to overcome them. However, many of the skills and information in this program also can be used by others who have challenges to getting out and about.

Out and About is a project of the Research and Training Center on Promoting Interventions for Community Living (PICL). PICL is a collaborative effort between the Research and Training Center on Independent Living at the University of Kansas and the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities at the University of Montana.

IL Philosophy and Independent Living

We are committed to research that can be used to enhance Independent Living (IL) for people with disabilities.

We believe, as one IL advocate stated, that, “The essence of Independent Living is the freedom to make decisions about your own life and to participate fully in your community.” (John Evans, 1989)

Research and Training Center staff work closely with consumers and service providers to identify their critical needs, then develop research and products that address these needs. This process ensures that our research and products meet real, as opposed to perceived, needs in the field.

Many of our research projects involve collaboration with Centers for Independent Living (CILs). Through these partnerships, we are able to test and develop programs that enhance the services they provide to people with disabilities. Out and About is one of the programs we are developing to further the work of CILs.

Our Team

The Out and About program is being tested at two collaborating sites. One team is working at the RTC/IL alongside partnering CIL: The Whole Person, serving consumers in six counties in the Kansas City, Missouri area. The second team at the RTC: Rural is partnering with a local CIL: Summit Independent Living, serving consumers in Missoula, Montana. Both teams, together, are working to create and test the Out and About program to increase community participation for consumers with mobility limitations.

KU Research and Training Center on Independent Living. Life Span Institute.      The Whole Person. People with Disabilities Leading Independent Lives. An array of blue dots on a white and light blue background.      Logo of RTC: Rural. Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities. The University of Montana. RTC: Rural is in white on rust background; Research and Training Center is rust on white background. Disability in Rural Communities is black on white background. University of Montana is rust on white background with the outline of a mountain     Summit Independent Living Logo. Building awareness. Advocating change. Animation of a white path through a blue mountain landscape with red, orange, and yellow rays of light at the summit.

Funding

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RT5043). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this website do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.