[Federal Register: March 25, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 58)]
[Notices]
[Page 12066-12068]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Funding Priority for Fiscal Years 1996-1997
for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes a funding priority for a new
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) under the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) for fiscal
years l996-1997. The Secretary takes this action to focus research
attention on areas of national need. This priority is intended to
improve rehabilitation services and outcomes for individuals with
disabilities.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 24, 1996.
ADDRESSES: All comments concerning this proposed priority should be
addressed to David Esquith, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, S.W., Switzer Building, Room 3424, Washington, D.C. 20202-2601.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Esquith. Telephone: (202) 205-
8801. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the TDD number at (202) 205-5516. Internet:
David__Esquith@ed.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice contains a proposed priority
under the RERC program for research on technology for older persons
with disabilities.
Authority for the RERC program of NIDRR is contained in section
204(b)(3) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 760-
762). Under this program the Secretary makes awards to public and
private agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher
education, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations, to conduct
research, demonstration, and training activities regarding
rehabilitation technology in order to enhance opportunities for meeting
the needs of, and addressing the barriers confronted by, individuals
with disabilities in all aspects of their lives. An RERC must be
operated by or in collaboration with an institution of higher education
or a nonprofit organization.
This proposed priority supports the National Education Goal that
calls for every adult American to possess the skills necessary to
compete in a global economy.
Under the regulations for this program (see 34 CFR 353.32) the
Secretary may establish research priorities by reserving funds to
support particular research activities.
The Secretary will announce the final priority in a notice in the
Federal Register. The final priority will be determined by responses to
this notice, available funds, and other considerations of the
Department. Funding of a particular project depends on the final
priority, the availability of funds, and the quality of the
applications received. The publication of this proposed priority does
not preclude the Secretary from proposing additional priorities, nor
does it limit the Secretary to funding only this priority, subject to
meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice of proposed priority does not solicit
applications. A notice inviting applications under this competition
will be published in the Federal Register concurrent with or
following the notice of final priority.
Description of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center Program
RERCs carry out research or demonstration activities by: (1)
developing and disseminating innovative methods of applying advanced
technology, scientific achievement, and psychological and social
knowledge to (a) solve rehabilitation problems and remove environmental
barriers, and (b) study new or emerging technologies, products, or
environments; (2) demonstrating and disseminating (a) innovative models
for the delivery of cost-effective rehabilitation technology services
to rural and urban areas, and (b) other scientific research to assist
in meeting the employment and independent living needs of individuals
with severe disabilities; or (3) facilitating service delivery systems
change through (a) the development, evaluation, and dissemination of
consumer-responsive and individual and family centered innovative
models for the delivery to both rural and urban areas of innovative
[[Page 12067]]
cost-effective rehabilitation technology services, and (b) other
scientific research to assist in meeting the employment and independent
needs of individuals with severe disabilities.
Each RERC must provide training opportunities to individuals,
including individuals with disabilities, to become researchers of
rehabilitation technology and practitioners of rehabilitation
technology in conjunction with institutions of higher education and
nonprofit organizations.
General: The Secretary proposes that the following requirements
apply to this RERC pursuant to this absolute priority unless noted
otherwise:
The RERC must have the capability to design, build, and test
prototype devices and assist in the transfer of successful solutions to
the marketplace. The RERC must evaluate the efficacy and safety of its
new products, instrumentation, or assistive devices.
The RERC must provide graduate-level research training to build
capacity for engineering research in the rehabilitation field and to
provide training in the applications of new technology to service
providers and to individuals with disabilities and their families.
The RERC must develop all training materials in formats that will
be accessible to individuals with various types of disabilities and
communication modes, and widely disseminate findings and products to
individuals with disabilities and their families and representatives,
service providers, manufacturers and distributors, and other
appropriate target populations.
The RERC must involve individuals with disabilities and, if
appropriate, their family members in planning and implementing the
research, development, and training programs, in interpreting and
disseminating the research findings, and in evaluating the Center.
The RERC must share information and data, and, as appropriate,
collaborate on research and training with other NIDRR-supported
grantees including, but not limited to, the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers and
other related RERCs and RRTCs. The RERC must work closely with the RERC
on Technology Evaluation and Transfer at the State University of New
York at Buffalo.
Priority: Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) the Secretary proposes to give
an absolute preference to applications that meet the following
priority. The Secretary proposes to fund under this competition only
applications that meet this absolute priority.
Proposed Priority: Assistive Technology for Older Persons With
Disabilities
In 1991-1992, of 30.68 million persons who were 65 years old and
over, 16.54 million or 53.9 percent had a disability. Of those 16.54
million with a disability, 15.21 million persons had a ``functional
limitation'' performing activities such as seeing, hearing, reaching,
or walking (J. McNeil, Americans with Disabilities: 1991-1992,
Household Economic Studies, P70-33, December 1993). The prevalence of
medical, neurological and orthopedic impairments increases with the age
of the population. It is estimated that over half of all Americans over
seventy years of age have one or more disabilities (McNeil, 1993).
Also, as a result of improved life-long health care and expanded
employment and educational opportunities, increased numbers of persons
with severe disabilities will become part of our elderly population and
experience new or changed assistive technology needs.
While assistive technology has been used in rehabilitation to help
reduce the adverse effects of disability, it is only beginning to be
used effectively to address problems in geriatric rehabilitation. An
RERC on assistive technology for older persons with disabilities will
address the application of technology to meet the special needs of
older persons with disabilities and their caregivers.
Many devices or techniques aimed at ameliorating specific
disabilities are designed to augment or take advantage of compensatory
abilities. However, multiple and gradual changes related to aging may
leave older persons without one or more areas of strength with which to
compensate for other functional losses. For example, an older person
requiring a wheelchair, because of gradual loss of muscle mass, may not
have, or may not be able to develop, the requisite arm strength to use
grab bars to assist them in transferring in and out of their
wheelchair.
Efforts to develop and disseminate technological aids to older
persons with functional limitations must be conducted in the context of
using effective information dissemination strategies to reach older
persons. It is also necessary to deliver effective training in the use
and maintenance of the technology that is prescribed. It is
particularly important to make information on assistive technology for
older persons with disabilities available in relation to the major
activities of work, personal and health care, and leisure.
Assistive technology can address the physical stress that is
problematic for caregivers of older persons with disabilities. Many of
these caregivers are spouses who are elderly themselves. Premature
admission to institutional care is commonly caused by a crisis of the
caregiver rather than by a sudden deterioration in the health or
abilities of the older persons with a disability. Typically, the
caregiver becomes injured or sick and finds it impossible to continue
to do the lifting and other demanding physical tasks. Assistive
technology that can assist the caregiver can have a major impact on
eliminating the need or delaying the time for institutional placement
of an older person with a disability.
Proposed Priority
The Secretary proposes to establish an RERC on assistive technology
for older persons with disabilities for the purposes of: (1)
Identifying the needs for assistive technology by older persons with
disabilities; (2) developing design modifications to existing assistive
technology devices and disseminating these modifications to developers
of assistive technology; (3) developing and evaluating unique assistive
technology devices that otherwise will not be developed by the field;
(4) identifying the problems of assistive technology service delivery
utilization, including maintenance, and developing and testing service
delivery models to address those problems; and (5) developing and
delivering training and technical assistance to rehabilitation service
providers, providers of general services to older persons, and
consumers, on sources and uses of assistive technology for older
persons with disabilities and caregivers.
In addition to activities proposed by the applicant to carry out
these purposes, the RERC shall:
* Develop and implement an information dissemination
initiative to address utilization problems, including targeting
disability and elderly organizations as well as assistive technology
service providers;
* Coordinate and share information with NIDRR-funded RRTCs
on Rehabilitation and Aging, and with programs funded under the
Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of
1988; and
* Establish a collaborative relationship with the RERC on
Technology Evaluation and Transfer and the RERC on Accessible Housing
and Universal Design.
[[Page 12068]]
Invitation To Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit comments and
recommendations regarding this proposed priority. All comments
submitted in response to this notice will be available for public
inspection, during and after the comment period, in Room 3424, Switzer
Building, 330 C Street SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 9:00
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday of each week except Federal
holidays.
Applicable Program Regulations
34 CFR Parts 350 and 353.
Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 760-762.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.133E,
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers)
Dated: February 12, 1996.
Howard R. Moses,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 96-7076 Filed 3-22-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P