Research findings on social care support experienced by LGBT+ disabled people

We know almost nothing about the use and experiences of using social care support by LGBT+ disabled people. We might assume that there may be some tricky negotiations with the whole range of social care staff and providers when getting needs met that relate to sexual identity. Apart from initial decisions to ‘come out’, users may well need support to access LGBT+ venues, take part in social activities with other LGBT+ people, facilitate other ‘ordinary’ daily aspects of being LGBT+, require physical support with sex (alone or with others). LGBT+ people with learning disabilities may need particular support to assert and/or explain their needs as they pertain to sexual identity.

Our study included a survey of LGBT+ disabled adults who use social care in England; qualitative interviews with 30 LGBT+ disabled people paying attention to recruiting participants from across the LGBT+ spectrum as well as along lines of age, gender, ethnicity; and, also included a focus group of personal assistants (PAs) to explore issues from their perspective.

The launch event

The launch event will showcase the research findings and outputs – aside from the academic outputs we have produced some short films and web resources, and will disseminate these widely across our extensive networks.

Register for the FREE event here.

Moving between hospital and home, including care homes A quick guide for registered managers of care homes and home care

Nice and SCIE have produced a quick guide on Moving between hospital and home.

Registered managers and their teams play an important role in supporting people when they are transferring in and out of hospital. This quick guide provides a brief overview of how managers can work with hospitals to ensure a good experience of transition for the people in their care.

You can find out more and access the guidance here.

“Imagining Otherwise”: Challenging Dominant Views Regarding Autism and How to Help Autistic People

In recent years we have seen a massive growth of academic research in the field of autism. Much of this has set out to examine genetic causes or cognitive and behavioural characteristics, and has been largely carried out in the United States. This attention has also led to a growth in the number of media representations of autism and autistic people, often based on rather stereotypical characterisations, and consultations with researchers and clinicians.

Read the Care Knowledge blog by Damian Milton here.