Experiences of therapeutic relationships with health professionals, v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Adults with learning disabilities experiences of therapeutic relationships with NHS health professionals in a specialist community service
IRAS ID
321563
Contact name
Bethany Driver
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 20 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
This study is looking at how adults with learning disabilities (LDs) experience therapeutic relationships with health staff.
People with LDs often have contact with many different health services and staff to support them with varying needs. These needs can sometimes be met within mainstream health services, but sometimes they may need support from more specialist services. It is common for people with LDs to have had difficult experiences in the past which may make their relationships with health staff difficult or frightening for them now. It is important to focus on creating positive experiences of relationships with health staff for adults with a LD, so they can feel safe and supported when receiving health care.Research tells us that both people LDs and health staff think that the relationship between them is very important in their care. People with LDs often do not get to take part in research which is problematic as it is important to understand more about how services work from the people who access them. We hope that this study will help services to better understand what is important for adults with LDs in their relationships with health staff from their own perspective. This may mean that health staff make changes in how they develop and keep relationships with adults LDs in the future. This is important because we know that the relationship developed between adults with a LD and health staff is an important part of their care.
We will explore this by interviewing 6-10 service users who are receiving care from an NHS specialist community LD service and asking them about their relationships with the health staff. We will then analyse the data using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to see how individuals make sense of their relationships with health staff.
Summary of Results
People with intellectual disabilities encounter multiple Health Care Professionals (HCPs) to address a wide range of needs. Yet, little research has explored the lived experience of therapeutic relationships with HCPs from the perspective of people with intellectual disabilities. In the current study, six adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities were interviewed about their experience of therapeutic relationships with multi-disciplinary HCPs in a Community Learning Disability Team (CLDT) in the East of England. The data were analysed qualitatively using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three main themes, ‘The Journey to Building Connections’, ‘The Importance of Feeling Held’, and ‘Empowering Independence’, were identified and discussed. The findings highlight the importance of supporting people with intellectual disabilities to feel safe and empowered within their relationships with HCPs for positive care experiences. This can be supported by clinicians and services adopting a person-centred care approach with a trauma-informed focus. Future research should focus on capturing the diverse experiences of people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
23/NI/0016
Date of REC Opinion
30 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion