Research

Chair: Bevin Croft

The group brings people together to:

• Share ideas, projects, and developments in self-direction research.
• Learn from one another across countries and contexts.
• Build connections that can lead to collaboration.
• Work alongside people with lived experience to identify the research questions that matter most.

We want to create a space where research and lived experience come together on equal footing. The group will stay connected to the broader Self-Directed Support Network, building on past meetings and conversations whilst looking ahead to new opportunities.

Anyone interested in self-direction research - whether through academic study, lived experience, or both - is very welcome to join in and contribute.

We anticipate hosting one or two virtual meetings as well as an in-person meet-up as part of the 2025 Global Leadership Exchange in Ottawa, Canada in June 2026.

A good overview of research on self-direction was published by the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) here: Does self-direction work?

Good sources of infomation on self-direction include:

Applied Self-Direction - US-based organisation that works to support the right of people with disabilities to live the lives they want: https://www.appliedselfdirection.com/

Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship (CIIC) - Canada's only university-based research centre focusing on social policy and issues concerned with the full inclusion and citizenship of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: https://cic.arts.ubc.ca/

Citizen Network - Citizen Network hosts the SDS Network and its library contains many publication on the topic of how to advance citizenship for all people: https://citizen-network.org/library/community/selfdirected-support

European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) - A user-led network of disabled people which advocates for Independent Living values, principles and practice to make the full citizenship of disabled people possible: https://enil.eu/

European Association of Service providers for Persons and Disabilities (EASPD) - An association of service providers working to improve policy and practice in disability support services: https://www.easpd.eu/

Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) - US organisation that advises governments on how to create community-based, person-driven service system: https://www.hsri.org/

Manawanui - New Zealand based social enterprise driven by the belief that self-direction is a fundamental human right and providing practical supports for self-direction: https://www.manawanui.org.nz/

Suunta - The Finnish centre on personal budgeting whose goal is to increase people's choice and influence over their lives: https://tukena.fi/henkilokohtainen-budjetointi/

UNIC Project - European system to help people, services and governments get infomation to help move systems towards personal budgets: https://www.unicproject.eu/

Western Austraila's Individualised Services (WAIS) - Partnership with people, famalies, service providers and government to promote and advance individualised, self directed supports and services: https://waindividualisedservices.org.au/