Research
“Do the best you can with what you know, and when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
We conduct extensive disability research about disabled people and their experiences in life, from sport and fitness to mental health and well-being, with more in between. The findings we uncover help us advocate for change.
What research means to us
At Difference, disabled people are in the lead when it comes to research, from deciding upon the topic to ensuring an inclusive and participatory process; it’s disabled people doing research for disabled people.
We do two types of research: firstly, subjects that we choose and we think have been overlooked and ignored, such as how disabled people experience abuse and interpersonal violence. Secondly, we help others with research when they want to know things about disabled people.
When we can, we will reimburse research participants for their time and energy for participating in discussions or focus groups
Whether you want to increase the numbers of disabled customers or service users or if you want to ensure that your staff receive the reasonable adjustments they need, we will make sure that you are able to do so.
Many of our consultancy services training which can be tailored specifically to your needs covering areas from digital accessibility to inclusive recruitment practises. We also provide audit type services which review digital and non digital services against accessibility guidelines, provided by legislation and international access guides, e.g. Web Content Access Guidelines.
Our team
Our Development Director Christopher Hartworth has a research degree and over 20 years of experience in research and development spanning disability research and also other social welfare-related issues.
Completed Projects
Our completed disability projects and research include:
- What Stops Disabled People Going Out?: This research was funded by the National Lottery Community Fund And investigated what stopped people from leaving the house and prevented their social participation
- Health & Disability: This study was conducted for Public Health Stockton on Tees. It looked at what prevents and encourages disabled people from engaging in healthy lifestyles, including sport and fitness and the great outdoors.
- Developing a disability/disabled staff toolkit: This research and development resulted in the publication of an online resource covering reasonable adjustments and other measures for the staff and online managers of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS foundation trust.
- Access Review: we reviewed and critically evaluated digital and non-digital resources available to applicants to Community Foundation Tyne and Wear (CFTW).
Get involved
As of 2026 our current studies include:
What Good Care Looks Like
What Good Care Looks Like is a disabled-led research project from Difference North East exploring what good care means from the perspective of disabled people themselves.
We want to hear about the whole range of experiences—from excellent and enabling care to care that is poor, restrictive, controlling or harmful. We are particularly interested in choice, control, dignity, independence, relationships and whether the care people receive enables them to live the lives they want.
The findings will be used to define what good care looks like from a disabled person’s perspective and develop recommendations, training and practical guidance for providers and commissioners. We also want the research to contribute disabled people’s experiences to the wider debate about the future of adult social care.
There are two ways to get involved, the first of these is a questionnaire which takes around 10 minutes to complete, the second is a more detailed online interview which we will pay £50 access costs. If you’re interested, please email info@differencenortheast.org.uk with the word ‘Care’ in the subject title.