Sharing decision-making with adults with learning disabilities
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Sharing decision-making with adults with learning disabilities - a qualitative study with health care professionals.
IRAS ID
154142
Contact name
Vikki Entwistle
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Health services increasingly aspire to ensure that all patients share in decision making about their care, but there are many uncertainties about what forms of sharing are practically possible and ethically acceptable in particular circumstances. The uncertainties are particularly acute when patients have learning disabilities.
This study aims to explore how health professionals currently involve people with learning disabilities in decision-making about their health care, and to consider scope for improvement in the sharing of decision making. (We plan subsequently to work with people with learning disabilities and their families to hear their perspectives. We will seek separate approvals for that study).
We will use in depth qualitative interviews to allow us to consider health professionals' perspectives in detail. In order to ensure we identify the range of experiences and views that healthcare professionals have, the issues and concerns that they face, and the strategies they could adopt when working with people with learning disabilities, we will be careful to include in our sample (a) learning disability specialists and (b) healthcare professionals who work in more acute healthcare sectors and who do not have special training or expertise in learning disabilities.
The interviews will investigate healthcare professionals' experiences of working with adults with learning disabilities and their views about how they do and how they might involve those adults in decision-making about their health care. We will focus particularly on what they think is good, and why, about sharing decision making in different situations, and about what they think would help them or other health professionals to improve the ways they share decisions.
The interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed. An established approach to analysis (known as the 'Framework Approach') will be used to look systematically at all the key points the health professionals make.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
14/NS/1067
Date of REC Opinion
2 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion