Work

Impact assessment of a national research collaboration improving health outcomes for working-age Australians with disability

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Despite growing recognition of the need for cross-disciplinary research collaborations to tackle complex issues, the impact of such collaborations is rarely documented. This study applied an impact framework to assess the impact of a cross-disciplinary disability research collaboration, the Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health (CRE-DH) (2016-2023). We report on the utility of the impact framework for this task and propose a set of actions to ensure the effectiveness of impact evaluations for other cross-disciplinary collaborations. METHODS: We retrospectively applied the Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research (FAIT) to the CRE-DH, which included a modified payback framework, an economic analysis and a narrative account of the impact generated by the collaboration. The impact assessment covered the period 2016-2024. Data were gathered from project records, reports and publications and secondary analysis of interviews conducted with external and internal stakeholders. Data were mapped to five impact domains: knowledge advancement, capacity strengthening, policy contribution, economic impact and community benefit. RESULTS: The $5.4 million (2024 AUD) initially invested in the CRE-DH delivered an additional investment of $39.9 million (2024 AUD) (sensitivity analysis $26.5-53.2 million) in leveraged grants, consultancies and fellowships. Collectively, CRE-DH members produced 148 publications, 4 books, 15 book chapters, 48 reports, 17 fact sheets and 132 media articles. Publications were mentioned in the media more than 3400 times and cited in 45 policy documents. The CRE-DH funded and developed 9 early career disability researchers, and held 11 external events to strengthen capacity in disability research with policymakers and disability organizations. A total of 29 policy submissions were made, with those focussing on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its disproportionate impact on people with disability having particular influence on government policy. CONCLUSIONS: Applying FAIT retrospectively to assess a cross-disciplinary research collaboration's impact allowed us to examine multiple benefit domains. The CRE-DH demonstrated impact in advancing knowledge, strengthening capacity, influencing policy and generating economic benefits; evidence on quantifiable community benefit is not yet available. However, our assessment was limited by insufficient data collection on some critical issues, such as disability representation. As a result, we propose several recommendations for applying FAIT in future research collaborations.

Source: Health Research Policy and Systems

DOI: 10.1186/s12961-026-01448-7