Background: Disability research as an academic field was established in 1960s and 1970s in the Nordic countries as in the Anglo-Saxon world. Disability research was studied within the medical model, e.g. in medical and rehabilitation studies, while disability studies became a part of the social model, e.g. in social and psychological studies. According to a Nordic context disability was mainly studied within medicine, social science and special education (Roulstone, 2013).
It has been a lack of theoretical perspective in disability research and according to that a discussion of theoretical approaches in disability studies has been raised during the recent years (see e.g. Gustavsson, 2004; Bhaskar & Danermark, 2006; Söder, 2013).
Aim: The aim of this paper is conceptually to describe and illustrate how vertical and horizontal knowledge integration appears in disability research, with an example from a study within brain injury.
Results: Vertical integration is an understanding between different levels on a biological, psychological and social level. Horizontal integration is an understanding across varying disabilities. The study indicates that vertical and horizontal integration in disability research are useful for a broader and deeper understanding of the phenomena. It also indicates that different theoretical perspectives has been more common in disability research during last years and fill an important need in the development of disability research as an academic field.