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

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 researcher

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: a.power@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Professor Melanie Nind BEd(Hons), PhD. FAcSS

Professor in Education

Research interests

inclusive research
learning disability
research methods education

Connect with Melanie

Email: m.a.nind@soton.ac.uk

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Centre for Research in Inclusion

We work with teachers and young people to foster and improve inclusive practice.

Population, Health and Wellbeing (PHeW)

We combine expertise in population, health and wellbeing with the application of technical excellence in geographic information systems (GIS), spatial analysis and qualitative methods.