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Why do families relinquish care? An investigation of the factors that lead to relinquishment into out-of-home respite care
- Authors:
- NANKERVIS K., ROSEWARNE A., VASSOS M.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 55(4), April 2011, pp.422-433.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The families and carers of people with intellectual disabilities are known to experience higher than normal levels of stress, depression and anxiety as well as financial problems. This Australian study explored: the factors that lead families to relinquish care; the potential early indicators that they are considering it; the factors that may prevent relinquishment; and the outcomes for families/carers after relinquishment occurs. Thirty-two client files of individuals for whom families had relinquished their care in a defined 12-month period were reviewed for information around the decision to use extended stay, out-of-home, respite care facilities. Staff members involved with these families (n=17) were also interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed that the factors leading to relinquishment could be categorised into: characteristics inherent to the individual with intellectual disability; characteristics inherent to the family/carer; and characteristics associated with the support context that the carer/family were currently experiencing. Generally families and carers experienced positive outcomes from using respite care but many experienced initial feelings of guilt and mourning. It is concluded that extra supports (such as: increased respite care, planning for movement of the family member into out-of-home permanent accommodation and case management) and positive interventions such as parent training are potential strategies for achieving more lasting benefits from short-stay, out-of-home, respite care.
Never mind what I like, it's who I am that matters:an investigation into social pedagogy as a method to enhance the involvement of young people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- CARTER Sid, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41(4), 2013, pp.312-319.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The involvement of children and young people with learning disabilities in the decision-making of the services they use is recognised as an essential principle. However, implementation of this principle has encountered two main obstacles. One obstacle is that meaningful involvement has largely been subsumed by a provider-driven consumerist agenda. A second obstacle is the lack of methods to gain feedback that take account of an individual's cognitive and linguistic impairments. This article reports on the use of the social pedagogy approach to attempt to overcome these obstacles. The ideas were used to run a group to involve young people with learning disabilities who used short break services. The findings show that social pedagogy, which emphasises a balance between ‘head, heart and hands’, provided a means to establish egalitarian relationships with young people with learning disabilities. Thus, social pedagogy was found to be effective in enhancing involvement in the context of a person-centred approach. (Publisher abstract)