This study was funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research led by PI Sara Ryan, Manchester Metropolitan. Louise Locock was co-investigator at Aberdeen.
Despite considerable government policy and research about how to support learning disabled people to lead good lives, this is not happening. People lack friendships, fewer than 6% have jobs and life expectancy is lower than average. Recent reports highlight the importance of change led by direct support staff because they can see ‘cracks’ not visible to others.
In this project we went back to basics using a ‘Capability Approach’ to explore how learning disabled people can be supported to lead flourishing lives. A Capability Approach highlights the importance of people being able to do the things they value which is the key to wellbeing. This approach is rarely used in social care. We have used this lens to examine what enabling support looks like to those who receive social care and how it can be put into practice. This work included:
- Finding out what good looks like, from existing literature and focus groups and interviews with a diverse sample of learning disabled people and family carers.
- Working with providers to find out how good support can be delivered, using a learning community approach.
- Producing a Flourishing Life Guide. Project data are being brought together to produce a Flourishing Life Guide for people, families and social care staff. This comprehensive, innovative resource will clearly demonstrate how people's freedom to achieve wellbeing can be
Contacts
- Louise Locock; louise.locock@abdn.ac.uk