Fathers with learning disabilities and their experiences of adult care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Fathers with learning disabilities and their experiences of adult social care services
IRAS ID
188058
Contact name
Daryl Dugdale
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Since the implementation of the Care Act in 2015, adult social care services have had a statutory duty to consider the needs of parents with learning disabilities when conducting assessments and organising support packages. Most of what is known about parents with learning disabilities is about mothers, but very little is known about fathers in this group. This exploratory study will interview fathers with learning disabilities and professionals to better understand the lives of those fathers as well as the ways that they are supported by adult social care services. We will recruit ten fathers who are either currently or have previously been contact with adult learning disability services and interview them about their lives as men, as fathers and their experiences of support services. We will also recruit ten staff from learning disability support services and interview them about their experience of working with fathers with learning disabilities. We will access the fathers through a national network of practitioners and ask those members to share information about the study with fathers and relevant services. Information will be provided in ‘easy read’ formats so that it is more accessible to the fathers. We will offer the father the option of having another person present to support them in the interview and if they get tired or wish to stop the interview, we will do so, offering them the chance to meet for a second time if they would like. Professionals working with those fathers will not be recruited to the study to ensure that participants will not be able to recognise each other in the findings. Two local authorities will be recruited to take part in the study. We will attend a team meeting and aim to interview four practitioners and one manager from each authority.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
15/IEC08/0049
Date of REC Opinion
23 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion