Turning the Tide
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Defining organizational and community functionality for people with learning disabilities
IRAS ID
260903
Contact name
Rohit Shankar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 24 days
Research summary
After many decades of reliance on hospital care to support people with learning disability (LD) institutions are being closed. For a significant minority however, there is still an over reliance on inpatient “treatment” who, given the right support, be at home close to their loved ones. Cornwall UK leads the country, in having no LD specific psychiatric beds and a good track record of repatriation. However the drivers and factors enabling this remain unknown. Both positives and negatives of the “Cornwall model” need critical evaluation.
A literature review (submitted for publication) concluded that housing, professional staff support/ training and health care access significantly influence discharge, repatriation and community sustainability of those with LD admitted to psychiatric hospitals for mental and behavioural issues. There is a complex interaction between these factors. The limited evidence indicates that with the right care package and suitable support, quality of life can be improved and maintained. However, this has not been systematically captured. An evidence based toolkit designed to enable safe and timely discharge from institutions to foster a successful life within the community setting would be a significant step forward.
It is hypothesised that the key elements of organisational effectiveness (Strategy, structure and capability, people systems and processes, leadership, culture and values) and community engagement are needed to drive successful engagement. This then defines the service user’s experience and, ultimately, the overall performance in terms of productivity and success of people with LD living more independently in the community.
To develop a critical evidenced based understanding of how people with LD, live within Cornwall with a view to inform an evidence based toolkit, an inquiry using a mixed methods approach to understand the experience of various networks at an inter-organizational level, organizational level, service level, clinician level, service user and community level is essential.REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/SC/0186
Date of REC Opinion
30 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion