Jon Sanford

Jon Sanford is an associate professor in Industrial Design and the director of the Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA) where he serves as the co-director of Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations, a five-year grant supported National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). He is also a Research Architect at the Rehabilitation Research and Development Center at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Mr. Sanford is one of the few architecturally trained researchers engaged in environmental issues related to rehabilitation. He has been well-recognized for almost 25 years for his expertise in universal design, accessible design and assistive technologies across a range of environments from housing to residential care to workplaces to public buildings and spaces. His research spans the micro environment, such as design of toilet and bathing facilities to facilitate independence among older adults, and the effectiveness of home modifications and workplace accommodations, to the macro environment, such as wheelchair seating is stadiums and theaters and community barriers to wheeled mobility. He has developed several assessment protocols for home modifications, including remote assessments using televideo technology and CASPAR, the Comprehensive Assessment and Solutions Process for Aging Residents. He is currently working on several projects to evaluate the efficacy of interactive teleconferencing to provide remote therapeutic services both to employees with disabilities in the workplace and older adults at home, including a multi-site, randomized controlled trial funded by the VA Rehab R&D Service. He has contributed over 100 articles and chapters to the professional literature and has over 150 professional presentations.