College of Health professor researches accessibility issues

After getting hit by a bus in 2003, Austin Duncan, an assistant professor of disability independence, became a traumatic brain injury survivor. Now, Duncan has partnered with Good Shepherd Rehabilitation to research and address accessibility issues in the Lehigh Valley. 

As a medical and disability anthropologist, Duncan focuses on the social and cultural aspects of neurological differences and impairment that lead to wider health and social disparities, according to the College of Health. 

“There are millions of traumatic brain injuries in the U.S. every year, but many people either don’t know or barely know,” Duncan said. 

After joining the College of Health in 2024, Duncan began collaborating with Good Shepherd, which offers outpatient and inpatient services around the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia areas.

Kim Stolarik, the associate vice president for development at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation, said the center works with those who have traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries for inpatient work.

Stolarik said the center’s outpatient program works with neurodiverse communities, including individuals diagnosed with autism, sensory processing disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders.

According to IRS guidelines, charitable hospitals are required to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years, a process for determining the needs in a particular community through data collection and analysis. Hospitals then must adopt implementation strategies to meet community health needs in response to the findings. 

Good Shepherd conducted their CHNA in 2022 with Muhlenberg College. This year, they collaborated with Lehigh’s College of Health to conduct their assessment.  

Duncan worked with Rebecca Chang, ‘26G, a student in the Mental Health Counseling program in the College of Education and College of Health professor Michael Gusmano to conduct the CHNA survey.

Duncan said they created a survey for three different audiences — those with neurodivergent disabilities, their families and caregivers, and medical professionals in the field. 

Duncan said he and Chang faced challenges with limited data due to low response rates in the individual and professional groups from the survey. 

“I learned the importance of listening, not just collecting data but really hearing about what people are saying,” Chang said, “It is really essential to create pathways that are accessible and culturally competent and community informed.”

Stolarik said the implementation plan to address the needs found in the survey will be presented and released later this month. 

Duncan has also held workshops and hosted focus groups to learn about challenges that impact the disabled community in the Lehigh Valley. 

“People with disabilities literally do not want to leave their houses because they do not feel safe on the street,” Duncan said. 

He said there are some accessible features in the Lehigh Valley, like audible crosswalks and ones with bumps that signal to people with low vision where a curb is, but they are not universally implemented. 

Duncan said sidewalks in both North and South Bethlehem can be unsafe, as many drivers go extremely fast and use their phones while driving which increases the risk of an accident. 

Duncan said information access is one of the most significant barriers individuals with disabilities face. 

He said many people with disabilities love the free events available in the Lehigh Valley, but he said they often lack the necessary information about accessibility to securely and safely attend them and will opt to just not go instead. 

Duncan said Good Shepherd works to fix this information gap, using the continuous contact they have with patients. 

Stolarik said through the CHNA survey, Duncan was able to assess and understand how those with disabilities would best be able to communicate their needs.

“He held a community focus group conversation, and so he really tried to meet people where they were with their ability to communicate and interest in communicating,” Stolarik said.  

Although local initiatives are the most important in helping the disabled community, Duncan said more policies promoting accessibility at the state and federal level are needed.

He said establishing the Americans with Disability Act in 1990 made the U.S. the premier leader in disability rights, but there is still a lot of progress and accommodations to be made.

“I wish that we, as a community here in Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley overall, would realize the power that we do have to improve things for the quarter of our population who are disabled or have disabilities that have primarily become invisible,” Duncan said.