The Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC: Rural) conducts research on disability as part of the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities at the University of Montana.
RTC: Rural is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) to improve the ability of people with disabilities to engage in rural community living.
Read our 2-page Executive Summary: RTC:Rural- Research that Leads to Solutions for Rural Americans with Disabilities (PDF)
Read our 10-page Research Summary: RTC:Rural Research Summary_2017 (PDF)
As a NIDILRR-funded program, the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities strives to ensure people with disabilities participate in all stages of the development and implementation of research projects. Our goal is to make sure research results and products are useful and relevant to people with disabilities, their families and service providers.
Learn more about RTC: Rural, our staff and history by checking out our About Page. Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Rural Institute Researchers awarded 5 year Rural Community Living Development Grant
The University of Montana Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities (RIIC) is pleased to announce a staff team has been awarded a five-year, $981,803 Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project grant by the National Institute on Disability Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research within the Administration for Community Living.
The newly funded project, Rural Community Living Development
(RCLD), is led by Rural Sociologist and Project Director Dr. Rayna Sage, and
Dr. Craig Ravesloot, Clinical Psychologist and Research Director for the
Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC:Rural).
The purpose of the Rural Community Living Development
project is to provide space and facilitate conversations among community
members to help them connect to resources and information they might not
otherwise have access to.
Using a combination of independent living philosophy, peer mentoring and community development approaches, research staff will work with Centers for Independent Living (CILs) to take collective action that leads to positive change for and with people with disabilities living in rural areas.
Continue reading about Rural Institute Researchers awarded 5 year Rural Community Living Development GrantRTC:Rural travels to Grand Rapids for 25th annual APRIL conference
RTC:Rural heads to Grand Rapids, Michigan this week for the 25th
annual Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL) conference.
The conference will be October 25 – 28, and the theme is “The Power of Rural.”
Harnessing the theme of this year’s conference, Project
Directors Dr. Rayna Sage and Lillie Greiman, Director of Knowledge Translation
Tracy Boehm Barrett, and Research Advisor Dr. Craig Ravesloot will give a
presentation titled, “Using Rural IL Power to Address the Needs of People with
Disabilities Living in Poverty.” In their presentation, they will discuss how
poverty affects Independent Living (IL), rural resources that Centers for
Independent Living (CILs) can leverage to help address poverty, and how
community development strategies can address poverty among people with
disabilities living in their community. Dr. Sage will also briefly describe a number
of new opportunities for CILs to get involved in RTC:Rural’s research and rural
community development projects to address local issues that affect IL services.