Older parents of adults who have a learning disability and service providers

Davys, D

Abstract

The number of older parents who support people who have a learning disability are on the increase due to advances in health and social care (Dowling and Hollins 2003) and as a nation, we rely on the support that these families provide (Department of Health 2001b). The aim of this research paper is to present the perspectives of older parents who support adult offspring who have a learning disability as the literature and related research suggests that there are long standing tensions between this group of parents and service providers.

Following ethical clearance by the relevant university department, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with four couples in the North of England to highlight the concerns of older parents of people who have a learning disability. Data was analysed using a form of content analysis similar to that described by Burnard (1991) and the dominant theme that emerged from the interviews was that of parental dissatisfaction with service providers.

Occupational therapists increasingly work with older people and learning disability services. It is therefore of crucial importance that they understand the complex issues and perspective of this group of older parents as having a sensitivity to their situation is likely to be a prerequisite to gaining their active participation in futures planning for their own needs and those of their sons and daughters.

Citation

Davys, D. (2009, January). Older parents of adults who have a learning disability and service providers. Presented at Collage of Occupational Therapists Annual Conference, Brighton

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: Collage of Occupational Therapists Annual Conference
• Conference Location: Brighton
• Start Date: Jan 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 16, 2012
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference; References : Burnard, P. (1991) A Method of Analysing Interview Transcripts in Qualitative Research. Nurse Education Today.11: pp461-466. Department of Health (2001b) Valuing People: A new strategy for learning disability for the 21st century. London: The Stationary Office. Dowling, S. and Hollins, S. (2003) Coping with Bereavement: the Dynamics of Intervention In Mental Health, Intellectual Disability and the Ageing Process. Davidson, P.W., Prashner, V.P. and Janicki, M.P. (Eds) Maiden:Blackwell Publishing. Pp166-178.