Understanding the support needs of disabled children and families
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the support needs of disabled children and their families in East Kent
IRAS ID
133831
Contact name
Eve Hutton
Contact email
Research summary
‘Aiming High for Disabled Children’ (Department for Education, 2007) highlights three priority areas for improving services for disabled children: access and empowerment; responsive services and timely support; and improving quality and capacity. At the heart of this report is an emphasis on understanding what type of support disabled children and their families want and need and determining how and when this support can best be provided. The current government is to introduce a Children & Families Bill in 2014; this will reform Special Educational Needs assessments and introduce personal budgets for children with Education, Health and Care plans.
We plan to conduct focus group interviews with parents of disabled children to identify whether there are key transition points (requiring a change in the nature or intensity of support provided). In the focus groups, families will also be asked to comment on the policy priorities: access and empowerment; responsive services and timely support; quality and capacity – considering how these can best be achieved. This research will provide valuable information to inform planning and commissioning of therapy services. We have built in plans to disseminate the findings to relevant stakeholders. If this application is successful, we also plan to apply for funding from NIHR to examine how the NHS might improve delivery of therapy services for disabled children and their families.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/YH/0374
Date of REC Opinion
21 Nov 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion