Academic Council Report
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ACADEMIC COUNCIL REPORT SESSION: ACTION REQUESTED: Public Decision Discussion/Direction Information Financial Impact Yes No Included in Budget Yes No TO: Academic Council DATE: May 31, 2021 FROM: Research Board PRESENTED BY: Les Jacobs, Vice-President, Research and Innovation SUBJECT: Establishment of the Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (IDRR) COMMITTEE/BOARD MANDATE: In accordance with Article 1.4(b) of By-law No. 2 and the Procedures for the Creation of Research Entities, Academic Council makes recommendations to the Board on matters including the establishment of research centres. Recommendation: The Research Board, at its May 20, 2021 meeting, reviewed the proposal by Dr. Pierre Cote from the Faculty of Health Sciences to establish the Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (IDRR) and unanimously approved the motion of a recommendation that it go forward to Academic Council. We request that Academic Council review the Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (IDRR) proposal and find it appropriate to recommend to the Board of Governors for approval. BACKGROUND/CONTEXT & RATIONALE: Disability is an ever-present, never fully preventable, characteristic of communities around the world. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 15% of the global population lives with disability in some form. This minority is vastly diverse, encompassing physical, developmental, learning, and psychiatric conditions. Across this wide range of embodied differences, people with disabilities share in common needs related to health care support and accommodations in the community, and histories of discriminatory treatment. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, the three main causes of disability throughout the world are low back pain, headache disorders and depressive disorders. The changing demographics have led to a sharp rise in the number of people experiencing disability, or deteriorations in functioning. These changes emphasize more than ever the need for - 1 - effective, accessible and equitable rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation is a set of interventions needed when a person experiences limitations in everyday physical, mental, and social functioning due to ageing or a health condition, including chronic diseases or disorders, injuries, or trauma. Globally in 2019, 2.4 billion individuals needed rehabilitation, with low back and neck pain being the main reasons for rehabilitation needs in 134/204 countries, including Canada. Escalating economic costs related to increased need are placing an international focus on rehabilitation services, prioritizing rehabilitation for low back and neck pain. Ontario Tech University is uniquely positioned to establish a research institute dedicated to the study of disability and rehabilitation related to musculoskeletal pain and mental health conditions. The new institute will bring together expertise from the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. Research, knowledge translation and policy development activities will include external collaborations with international, national and local organizations. We propose to establish the Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (IDRR) as a logical step in the growth of the Centre for Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (CDPR). The CDPR was established in 2012 through a partnership between the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University and Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC). The current research activities of the CDPR can be found at https://cdpr.ontariotechu.ca/index.php. Since its inception, Ontario Tech University and CMCC have been equal partners of the CDPR. The CDPR has operated under a successful joint institution governance model and it is now ready to grow and become an official Research Institute at Ontario Tech University. Consequently, the proposed mandate of the new IDRR expands beyond the health sciences (FHSc and CMCC) and will include research-related social sciences and humanities (FSSH). Building on the successful track record of the CDPR, the new IDRR will conduct research that develops, informs and advocates for innovative strategies and policies to improve the quality of life and well-being of people with disabilities, and to develop effective rehabilitation interventions for Canadians and people worldwide. Research activities at the IDRR will primarily focus on musculoskeletal and mental health conditions. Vision The IDRR will be a global leader in creating and disseminating knowledge to improve the quality of life and well-being of people with disability, and in need of rehabilitation services. Mission • Improve the quality of life and well-being of people with disability through the conduct of innovative and policy-relevant research. • Work with the public, clinicians, community partners and governments to develop, evaluate and implement effective clinical and community-based rehabilitation interventions. Global and National Need for the Centre The World Health Organization (WHO) defines disability as “an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions ” (5). This definition supplements the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which states that “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”(6). Therefore, disability is a complex and dynamic condition with a multidimensional etiology that results from interactions between a health disorder, personal characteristics and environmental factors. Although disability is commonly triggered by poor health and aging, it cannot be reduced to a disease or a diagnosis. Disability is neither purely medical nor social; its genesis is rooted within the biopsychosocial model of - 2 - health(5). Therefore, disability should be understood by investigating interactions between the health condition, the environment and personal factors. Disablement is also a political process. People with disabilities face discrimination in the form of physical, architectural, technological, and attitudinal barriers to their full and equal participation in their communities. They also face state and institutional failures to accommodate and in the absence of substantive differential treatment people with disability experience adverse impacts. The net result is that people with disability around the world lack meaningful and full access to education, employment, and independent living, and are more likely to live in poverty. Impoverishment and created dependency render these populations—particularly persons with mental disability—vulnerable to abuse. The likelihood of abuse increases for populations in congregate living settings. We propose that the IDRR’s research activities initially focus on people with disabilities related to musculoskeletal and mental health disorders. Musculoskeletal pain and mental health disorders are the two leading causes of disability worldwide. In most countries including Canada, low back and neck pain, other musculoskeletal disorders, depression and anxiety disorders are leading causes of disability. In Canada, almost 10% of adults (2.6 million Canadians) had a pain-related disability in 2012. Pain-related disability accounted for 70.5% of the total burden of disability in Canada and its impact on the financial wellbeing of individuals was significant. The median personal income of Canadian adults with a pain-related disability ($21,400) was roughly $10,000 less than the national median level ($31,320). Moreover, more than 54% of Canadians with pain- related, mobility, flexibility or mental health disability were unemployed in 2012. Disability related to pain, mobility, flexibility and mental health aggregate in individuals. For example, 75.3% of Canadian adults living with a mental health disability report a pain-related disability, and 61.3% of Canadians living with a pain-related disability report limitation with mobility. However, most research on the determinants and consequences of disability is conducted in silos. Musculoskeletal researchers focus on musculoskeletal disability and mental health researchers focus on mental health disability. Little is known about disability in persons with multiple health conditions such as musculoskeletal pain and mental health problems. RESOURCES REQUIRED: Physical Requirements No new resources or equipment will be required from Ontario Tech University. IDRR will continue to use resources it has and continues to acquire at Ontario Tech University and CMCC. As in the past, any new resources required will be secured using funds from grants and contracts. Staffing Requirements The staff at the IDRR will either be employed by Ontario Tech or CMCC. Each staff member is contracted and their salary is contingent on the grants held at CDPR. Support staff salary is secured using grant funds as per the current operational model. CDPR currently has 11 staff employed with secured research funding. However, with regards to support services the following will continued to be required from Ontario Tech: Office of Research Services, Finance, Human Resources, IT, Faculty of Health Sciences and Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. Staff in these departments are all employees of Ontario Tech and