The application and importance of disability policy research to the mental health field.

This editorial provides an introduction to this unique special issue of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. Rather than focusing on a particular type of rehabilitative services, it more broadly addresses the subject, methods, and results of disability policy research. This special issue is meant to start a conversation about the role of psychiatric rehabilitation researchers, professionals, and consumers in shaping future policies affecting and affected by mental illness. In particular, this issue focuses on the application of rigorous research methodologies to answer policy-relevant questions to help ensure that decisions affecting our field are evidence-based and address the issues that matter most in the lives of consumers. (PsycINFO Database Record