March is National Kidney Month, which is a good time to explore how important our kidneys are to a healthy body. Your kidneys filter your blood by removing waste and excess fluid, and producing urine. Certain conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure can put stress on the kidneys, leading to damage or chronic kidney disease. Some people with disabilities may be at higher risk for these conditions  For example, some people with disabilities may not be able to exercise efficiently or lack of access to relevant nutritional/self-management to manage the conditions contributing to kidney stress. Others may experience metabolic changes which make it difficult to maintain a healthy weight. As a result, they may be at higher risk for developing chronic kidney disease.

Several NIDILRR-funded projects are currently working to understand how common diabetes, heart disease, and other cardiometabolic conditions are among people with disabilities, and develop interventions to help them work toward their health goals:

• The Daily Relationship Between Personal, Interpersonal, and Environmental Factors and Metabolic Health Behaviors Among Individuals with Serious Mental Illness: An Ecological Momentary Approach is exploring how daily experiences and environmental factors influence daily engagement in physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary behavior among people with serious mental health conditions.
• Cultural Modification of an Evidence Based Healthy Lifestyle Intervention for People Post Stroke Who Identify as Hispanic/Latino is modifying the Group Lifestyle Balance for people Post Stroke to support people in Spanish-speaking communities who are post stroke and seeking to improve their health and function.
• Personalized Nutrition Recommendation Expert System for People with Physical Disabilities is developing an online application that is more inclusive and responsive to the nutritional needs of people with physical disabilities.
• The University of Alabama at Birmingham Spinal Cord Injury Model System is investigating gut health, metabolic health, and bowel dysfunction during the first year after injury.
• Medical Nutrition Therapy and Diabetes Self-Management Education for People with Disabilities is developing and evaluating YumAble, a medical nutrition therapy and diabetes self-management education program for people with disabilities.
• North Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Model System is investigating a telehealth weight-loss intervention for people with traumatic brain injury.
• Artificial Intelligence Assisted Inclusive Diabetes Telecoaching Self-Management Program is pilot testing an accessible and inclusive AI-assisted telecoaching platform for people with disabilities and type 2 diabetes.
• Promoting Obesity Prevention Among Latinx Children with Developmental Disabilities and Families Through Engaged Research is developing and testing an intervention for Latinx children and adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to promote healthy lifestyles.

You can learn more about these projects and their activities and products in the NIDILRR Program Database. This database includes more than 3,000 abstracts for current and completed projects. Try your own search to learn more about NIDILRR-funded research and development supporting the health and participation of people with disabilities across the lifespan!