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 from 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
- Healthy weight and disability: this study which was carried out for Public Health Stockton on Tees. Looking at what prevented, and what encouraged, disabled people from engaging in healthy lifestyles; including sport and fitness and the great outdoors.
- Developing a disability/disabled staff tool kit: this research and development resulted in the publication of an online resource for the staff and online managers of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS foundation trust, covering reasonable adjustments and other measures.
- Access review: we reviewed and critically evaluated digital and non-digital resources available to applicants to Community Foundation Tyne and Wear (CFTW).
Get involved
We are always looking for enthusiastic members who can join our list of willing research participants. Otherwise, keep your eyes out here to learn how to get involved in our current studies.
As of 2025 our current studies include:
Investigating the experiences of disabled people who may experience domestic abuse; we think this issue is hugely overlooked by the authorities and particularly affects disabled people. We will be looking for disabled people who have experience of this issue to join us.