Research Utilization Support and Help (RUSH)

2003-2009

From June 2003 through May 2009, SEDL operated the Research Utilization Support and Help (RUSH) Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation (NIDRR). Its mission was to expand awareness, strategies, and evaluation of knowledge utilization outcomes among NIDRR-supported researchers in order to increase access and use of research results by those that can most benefit from them.

Over the six years of project activity, many changes were seen in the area of knowledge utilization. Some of these include:

  • an increased emphasis on the use of evidence in shaping the knowledge base in disability and rehabilitation research,
  • expansion of the infrastructure that supports knowledge utilization in the disability community, and
  • heightened visibility and use of an integrated knowledge production and utilization model known as knowledge translation.

Over the years of RUSH project activity, a variety of resources were developed and offered including technical assistance to NIDRR grantees to increase their potential for knowledge utilization, workshops focusing on logic modeling and utilization planning, and the creation of a Web-based resource, the RUSH Toolbox.

RUSH project activities also focused on conducting research to expand understanding about knowledge utilization and knowledge translation within the parameters of a NIDRR grant context. The RUSH project used its funds to expand utilization outcomes within existing NIDRR grant activities through its Research Utilization Awards (RUAs). Each awardee produced a final report summarizing what was learned. These are available for download below.

Selected Resources

The following selected resources are available through the KTDRR web site:

About Us