Summary
Behind the scenes of a national reform: an interview with the authors of the report.
A new report detailing Armenia’s transition to a modern, digital disability assessment system offers crucial lessons for global social policy. Armenia’s Disability Assessment Reform is the result of a joint effort between the Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), developed as a capstone project for Georgetown University’s Global Human Development Program. We spoke with CIP CEO Daniel Mont and the report’s authors, Josh Elias and Ksenia Dubova, to learn about the “backstage” of this research.
The Origin: From Lecture to Research
The project began when Daniel Mont, while working with the ADB in Armenia, realized the country’s reforms could serve as a model for other nations. After delivering a guest lecture at Georgetown, Mont saw the university’s Capstone project as a “perfect opportunity” to engage “high-quality researchers” for a product that a national government was interested in. For the students, the topic was an ideal mix; Elias noted that Mont’s work “spiked my interest in disability rights”, while Dubova was drawn to the intersection of “inclusive policy and digital governance”.
The Core of the Reform
The report evaluates Armenia’s shift from a medical model to a social, functioning-based model grounded in the WHO’s ICF framework. Elias emphasized that this new system is a “huge improvement” because it moves from a medical approach to assessing people’s functioning across various dimensions of a person’s life, including how that interacts with their work and home environment, something not done by the previous system.
Backstage Challenges: Zoom and Stakeholders
The research followed a qualitative approach, consisting of semi-structured interviews and focus groups with government officials, international experts, and people with disabilities. A primary challenge was conducting the work “fully remotely” via Zoom with the support of translators.
Elias highlighted the complexity of managing “many stakeholders” given the reform’s “paramount importance to the Armenian government”. Meanwhile, Dubova was struck by the pace of the public sector, observing that “it just always took longer than the private sector” because approvals were required for almost every decision.
Surprises and Human Impact
Despite the distance, the authors were surprised by the openness of the participants. Elias recalled being concerned that people might not want to share their stories with students calling from America, but found that stakeholders at every level were “ready to share their experience with us”.
The experience fundamentally changed the authors’ perspectives. Dubova reflected that moving to a social model is “not just a technical challenge,” but requires “cultural change” and constant feedback. For Elias, the project was the “most practical thing” he learned in graduate school, providing a firsthand look at the coordination required to create “common sense policies”.
*After writing the report, one of the authors began working with the U.S. government. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. government.