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Older people and participation within disabled facilities grant processes
- Author:
- AWANG Darren
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(6), June 2002, pp.261-268.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article presents a qualitative study examining the perceptions of older people using Disabled Facilities Grants to acquire home adaptations. The participatory processes of two local authorities and a Care and Repair agency. Data collection included semi-structured interviews with nine service users and seven key adaptation agency workers, in addition to the examination of agency documentation. The findings demonstrated that the publicity of grants was poor. Service users' experiences varied depending on the levels of support that were available. In addition to paper-based feedback methods, examples of organisational participative mechanism included a disability forum and a service user group. There was no specific mechanism adopted primarily for older people. Overall, the participatory levels were low, with emphasis on sensitising services to users' needs (agency controlled) rather than on moves towards greater democratic involvement (user controlled). Calls for further work to encourage older people participation in shaping and controlling service delivery thereby improving the quality of practice in this area.