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A host of opportunities: second NHSN survey of family based short break schemes for children and adults with intellectual and other disabilities in the Republic of Ireland
- Author:
- HANRAHAN Des
- Publisher:
- National Home-sharing and Short Breaks Network
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 70p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Mullingar
The National Home-Sharing and Short Breaks Network is an association which supports the use, promotion and provision of host family based services for Irish citizens with intellectual disability, physical disability and autism. While the majority of respite services are centre based, the family-based model of providing short breaks to people with disabilities involves recruiting approved individuals, couples and families who agree to provide personalised breaks in their own homes as an alternative to traditional residential respite. In this report the terms short breaks with volunteer host families or paid contract families, and home sharing provided by host families are used in place of respite care and residential care respectively. The report describes the methodology for the questionnaire based survey of 30 schemes, run by 12 separate organisations, that provided overnight breaks with host families. It presents information from the survey about the hosts, the guests, and other issues. It concludes with a discussion of the findings, and makes recommendations for policy makers, managers and further research.
The influence of media and respondent characteristics on the outcome of a campaign to recruit host families for adults with learning disability
- Author:
- HANRAHAN Des
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 36(6), September 2006, pp.979-996.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Family-based short break schemes depend on accessing suitable hosts. Recruitment is seen as a major challenge yet there are no published studies that examine this for adult services. This paper aims to redress that by describing what type of person responded to a campaign to recruit hosts for adults with learning disabilities, and to explore if there is a relationship between (i) the outcome of each enquiry and the respondents and (ii) outcome and how the respondents found out about the service. The study involved a retrospective examination of documented information about each of forty-nine respondents, supplemented with telephone contact. The respondents were mainly married women aged thirty to fifty, with two or more children, from urban settings and who were employed outside the home. Most had heard about the service through newspapers and posters. Thirty-nine per cent applied to host. Age, family size, age of children and location were associated with outcome. Experience was an important predictor of outcome. Word of mouth was the most successful means of recruiting. While broad-based advertising is shown to attract hosts, the results can be maximized by follow-up of those who do not apply immediately. Implications for service delivery and research are discussed.