Research project

Reclaiming social care: Adults with learning disabilities seizing opportunities in the shift from day services to community lives.

Research groups:

Centre for Research in Inclusion

Population, Health and Wellbeing (PHeW)
Lead researchers:

Professor Andrew Power
Other researchers:

Professor Melanie Nind
Research funder:

ESRC
Status:

Not active

Project overview

The research examined innovations in social care developed by adults with learning disabilities and their supporters in four case-study areas in the UK – two in England and two in Scotland. With policy shifting towards personalisation and day centres closing former service-users, with families and allies, have been seeking to self-build their own forms of social care. Using creative and dialogic methods insights were gained into to lives undergoing changes on personal, interpersonal and community planes. Using a framework of the economic, personal and democratic dimensions of lifelong learning, we observed individuals and groups navigate processes of finding out, making contributions, developing new identities, and sharing connections. Their self-build innovations were often forms of peer-support including ‘friendship circles’ and pooling of personal budgets. The team developed a set of resource packs for emerging initiatives, on issues including funding, organisation and activities.

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Andrew Power

Professor

Research interests

Geographies of social care and support for disabled people including personalisation, peer-support and residential care.
Relational geographies of the voluntary sector particularly within the social care landscape
Family caregiving and the interdependency between care givers and recipients

Connect with Andrew

Email: [email protected]

Other researchers