Continuous alignment and coordination between research and healthcare requires close collaboration between researchers and healthcare professionals. Moreover, HA-ID endeavors to use a multidisciplinary approach; thus, several disciplines are represented in HA-ID. These include an Intellectual Disability Physician, paramedics, and behavioral scientists. In addition, many researchers have a dual role: they frequently conduct research and they are currently working or were working in healthcare in the past.

Structure of HA-ID

The care organizations are closely involved in setting the research agenda, facilitating and conducting research in practice, implementing the results, and providing resources for research. A manager from each of the care organizations will serve as an internal coordinator for HA-ID. This coordinator will see to the practical implementation of the studies, in consultation with the researchers. This implies that they are the central point of contact for all those involved. Each care organization will also have implementation coaches to ensure that the research questions that have been formulated are relevant for practice, that the studies can be carried out properly, and that the results are applied effectively.

One director from each care organization will hold a position on the Board of the Academic Collaboration Center. The chairperson of the HA-ID administrative consultancy bureau is Jan van Hoek from the Ipse de Bruggen organization. A steering group has also been set up to deal with the design, monitoring, preparation, and implementation of research.