Scope is active in disability research. Our aim is to better the lives of the people we support. Find out more about our current and past research projects.
People with profound or severe intellectual disability can experience multiple health problems related to pain. The identification and treatment of pain often goes unrecognised and untreated. Because of complex communication needs, people with profound or severe intellectual disability are unable to self-report pain. Instead, behavioural signs are relied upon to determine… Read More
The aim of this research was to develop and evaluate an online training course about decision-making support for direct support workers. Specifically, the research explored whether training had an impact on support workers’ knowledge and attitudes about decision-making support, and the opportunities that they provided to people with cognitive disability… Read More
Measuring outcomes associated with disability services is becoming increasingly important in the disability sector, especially in light of the roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). While there is an increased emphasis on outcomes, there is a lack of surveys relating to this area that are appropriate for use in the disability… Read More
The aim of the Supported Decision Making Project was to build knowledge on how people with cognitive impairment can be supported to make major life decisions, such as post-school options and accommodation. The research, conducted by La Trobe University, explored the processes and dilemmas associated with supporting people with cognitive disability in decision making. The… Read More
This research examines the role of disability organisations in working together with people with a disability, families and communities to foster inclusion. The research also investigates how disability organisations can enhance their function in facilitating inclusion. Specifically, the project aims to: Provide clear definitions and examples of what is meant by… Read More
The 1 in 4 Poll is a national survey on the issues of importance to people with a disability and their families, undertaken in partnership with Deakin University. Separate polls were conducted on the topics of social inclusion and negative attitudes from others experienced by people with disability. The poll… Read More
The aim of the Creating Inclusive Shopping Centres research was to identify key issues in how people with disability experience shopping centres. Possible ways of creating more inclusive shopping centres were also identified. Central to the research was the role of people with disabilities from the Scope Community Group working as… Read More
This research was designed to build enduring foundations to help Victorians with behaviours of concern (subject to restrictive interventions) communicate effectively. The Effective Communication in Behaviour Support project aimed to: Develop a resource kit to support assessment and intervention in relation to communication and behaviours of concern Increase the capacity of speech… Read More
This research examined the effectiveness of behavioural social stories to reduce behaviours of concern and restrictive practices. Social stories are commonly used to describe and explain social situations or concepts to individuals in a supportive, clear and easily understood manner. The project examined the extent to which behaviour support plans… Read More
The aim of the Listening to Those Rarely Heard research was to develop an approach to supported decision making for people who do not communicate formally. It also aimed to develop robustly tested resources that could be used to facilitate best practice in supported decision making. In particular, the project… Read More
Communicating Pain was a project that examined the issues facing people who are unable to use speech to express their experience of pain. The research identified how existing pain identification tools can be modified to be relevant to people who do not communicate formally. The research also provided information about the reliability… Read More
The aim of this project was to develop and pilot a communication system that can be used by counsellors when working with people with complex communication needs. The project involved a literature review and initial trialing of vocabulary items. The literature review revealed the importance of providing opportunities for people… Read More
The Bridging Project focused on ‘building bridges’ between specialist and community providers of mental health services in relation to people with complex communication needs. The project has produced a number of resources including the following: counselling guidelines for community counselling practitioners an accessible booklet on grief and loss accessible fact sheets covering… Read More
The Dysphagia Benchmarking Project aimed to develop, implement and evaluate benchmarks of best practice for dysphagia (swallowing impairments) services for adults with disability. A key aim was to use the results of the research to develop a DVD training resource that supports the promotion and implementation of the benchmarks. The new resource… Read More