Attracting psychologists to learning disability services: starting with assistants

Assistants employed in a split support worker/psychology assistant post rated the experience of working with people with a learning disability positively and as an opportunity to increase knowledge of clinical psychology theory and its direct application to practice. Drawbacks included role ambiguity

Child poverty: making a difference in your community; Friday 15 September 2017

This report provides an overview of the salient issues which emerged through presentations by speakers and discussions led by delegates. It is hoped that this report will inform councillors and community stakeholders of the challenges children and families living in poverty face, and encourage action on both practical and policy levels. The roundtable event was chaired and hosted by Dr Rick Wylie, Samuel Lindow Academic Director, University of Central Lancashire, who hosted this event. Cath Howard, Chief Operations Officer at Cumbria Community Foundation provided some key statistics around the status of poverty in West Cumbria. Suzanne Wilson, Research Fellow in Social Exclusion and Community Development at University of Central Lancashire gave an overview of the ‘Connected Communities’ research being undertaken in West Cumbria, with the aim to promote community capital. Lesley Sanczuk, Senior Manager for Children’s Services Allerdale & Copeland at Cumbria County Council spoke about their new service ‘Pause’ which aims to support families with repeat child removals. Andrea Hardie-Knight, Chief Executive at Howgill Family Centre described some typical referrals surrounding parent mental health and debt, and what their services are doing to support families. Vicki Hepburn-Fish, Head at Victoria Infant and Nursery School spoke about their work to improve language and communication at pre-school by working with families and promoting learning at home. Finally, Rachel Head, Children’s Services Manager at Barnardo’s Allerdale reflected on the challenges encountered in early intervention projects and strategies to overcome these, chiefly offering perinatal support for families

The postnatal support needs of mothers with an intellectual disability

OBJECTIVE: there is growing evidence that many parents with intellectual disabilities can parent successfully when given adequate support. This paper aims to explore the postnatal care experiences of mothers with an intellectual disability. DESIGN: a qualitative design was used and data were collected using a semi-structured interview format and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. SETTING: the study took place in community settings in Scotland. PARTICIPANTS: six mothers with intellectual disabilities were interviewed about their experiences. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: two super-ordinate themes are discussed with accompanying subthemes: challenges of providing support and how support was delivered. KEY CONCLUSIONS: the mothers valued formal postnatal care, but this was secondary to informal support. How mothers perceived the support impacted on its effectiveness and building effective relationships with professionals presented challenges. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: the study suggests the structure and quality of the wider support networks of mothers with an intellectual disability are central and should be taken account of by professionals. Providing information and advice in ways that validates the mother's role is also important, particularly as the mother's perception of how help is given can impact on the degree to which mothers engage with professional

'Hard to reach’ parents but not hard to research: a critical reflection of gatekeeper positionality using a community-based methodology

Conducting research with under-represented, overlooked and service resistant groups poses challenges but can lead to valuable discoveries that inform the development of policy or practice. In this paper, a reflective account of a community-based methodology will be provided which targeted families in poverty who did not engage with the school system. The research discussed provides a phenomenological understanding of how these parents perceived their role in their child’s education, and what challenges they felt they faced, both at home and in school. This community-based methodology proved effective in recruiting and obtaining data from five focus groups (n = 27) and a series of in-depth interviews (n = 50). The perceived positionality of the gatekeeper is discussed, explained using Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory [(1979). An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict.’ In The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, edited by W. G. Austin, and S. Worchel, 33–37. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole], with particular focus on in-group/out-group identity perceptions. The efficacy of the strategies used are discussed and recommendations for a community-based methodology for educational research is provide

Analysis of ISER 2008-2009 Survey Data

In September 2008, the superintendent of the Anchorage School District and the mayor of Anchorage sent a letter to the governor of Alaska, reporting what they thought might be an influx of students into Anchorage from rural communities. Enrollment in the school district was higher than expected, and it coincided with the largest-ever Alaska Permanent Fund dividend and with a one-time payment of $1,200 the state made per person, to help offset high energy costs. Researchers at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at UAA have a longstanding interest in migration patterns in Alaska and the Arctic, and they saw the increased enrollment in Anchorage schools as a potential opportunity to better understand: • If rural Alaskans are moving to Anchorage • Where they are coming from • Why they are moving So with the cooperation of the Anchorage School District, ISER conducted a survey of the parents or guardians of students who had enrolled in Anchorage in the 2007-2008 or 2008-2009 school years and who had transferred in from other Alaska school districts. Besides finding out where students were coming from—and why—another purpose of the study was to provide the Anchorage School District and the Municipality of Anchorage with information about what they could do to help students and families who are new to the city. To our knowledge, this may be the first survey ever conducted to find out why people move to Anchorage from other areas of Alaska.University of Alaska Foundation. BP-Conoco Phillips Charter AgreementExecutive Summary / Introduction / Methods / Where are Alaskan's Moving From? / Organization of Survey Findings / Migration Patterns / Who is Moving? / Challenges and Transitions / Conclusions and Recommendations / References / Appendix A. Survey For