People with learning disabilities from black and minority groups: An exploration of their experiences and views of social care services

A grant of £140,462 has been awarded to Drs. Michael Larkin, John Rose and Biza Kroese in the School of Psychology to address the above question. The award was made by the National institute for Health Research, School for Social Care Research (3rd Wave) and it will run until the end of 2013.

Project Summary:

Individuals who have learning disabilities and who are from Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) communities consistently report lower levels of satisfaction with a wide range of services including social care services. They are also less likely to be engaged with those services. The major focus of this work will be to collect accounts from a cross-section of people with learning disabilities who are from Black and Ethnic Minority communities. This will allow us to better understand their needs, and their experiences and expectations of services, and to better understand the nature of their dissatisfaction with social care services.

The majority of previous studies have been conducted with carers, and particularly parents; the voices of service-users have rarely been heard. Our study will engage directly with adults with learning disabilities, in order that their views can be understood, and their experiences represented.

For more information contact Michael Larkin: M.Larkin@bham.ac.uk