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Supporting people with intellectual disabilities to take part in focus groups: reflections on a research project
- Author:
- LLEWELLYN Penny
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 24(7), December 2009, pp.845-856.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
It is hypothesised that support offered to people with intellectual disabilities who take part in research might affect the resultant data. A total of 23 people with intellectual disabilities from a long-stay hospital, a day centre and a self-advocacy group, all in the UK, participated in focus groups during a research project on nurse advocacy. Their supporters were staff employed by those services who were familiar with and to the group members. Analysis of the focus group data revealed how attitudes of the supporters to their clients affected both the interactions of participants and the resultant information. The support given to participants reflected the ethos of the services involved, relating either to the medical or the social model of disability. The author argues that the philosophy of care influencing supporters of research participants with intellectual disabilities may have profound effects on the support provided. It may facilitate or inhibit open exchange of information; it may also aid clarification or cause contamination of the resultant data.