University of Illinois at Chicago researchers will use a five-year grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, to help make recreation and fitness activities and programs more accessible to people with disabilities.

James Rimmer, NCHPAD director and UIC professor of disability and human development, is principal investigator on the project. William Schiller, NCHPAD Associate Director and Technology Coordinator and a UIC clinical assistant professor of disability and human development, is a co-investigator. Other collaborators include the University of Colorado, the Veterans Administration Palo Alto Health Care System, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

The grant will fund a coordinated set of 11 research, development, and training projects. It will enable Rimmer and his colleagues to complete a needs assessment and collect data on available technology, develop virtual exercise environments, create fitness equipment that adapts to individual users, and use tele-exercise to promote exercise activity for people living in rural areas or who cannot easily leave home. The work of these new projects will be highly complementary with NCPAD's existing infrastructure.

In addition to technical research, the grant will also establish a partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine to train professionals and students in exercise physiology in the area of physical activity and disability.