Northumbria University disability research project receives £220k funding

A new study led by researchers at Northumbria University will document and analyse the experiences of young disabled adults who employ personal assistants to help with their care and support needs.

With the aim of helping to improve adult social care outcomes in England, the Supporting Sexualities and Genders research project has won £220k in grant funding, and will work with young adults with disabilities to learn more about their decisions and experiences of self-directed support, and how those decisions relate to sexuality and gender.

The study is funded by the National Institute of Health Research School for Social Care Research. Dr Edmund Coleman-Fountain, who focuses on researching the experiences of young people and adults in applied social care, is collaborating with researchers at Bristol University, the University of York, and Nottingham Trent University on the project.

Dr Coleman-Fountain, who is a senior lecturer in the department of Social Sciences at Northumbria, said: “Not a lot is known about how disabled young people make decisions on how to use their personal budget.

“Personal budgets have been in use for some time, based on the idea that care should be led by the person receiving it. Disabled people are able to spend that money in a way they think best meets their needs.

“This research will focus on beginning to investigate the choices these young people are faced with when making decisions about the kind of support they need, using the budget to recruit a Personal Assistant (PA), the kinds of relationships they have with PAs, and what part gender and sexuality plays in that.

“Young disabled adults may not know how to negotiate these issues with their PA, or how to manage PAs who respond negatively to their gender or sexuality. To help improve social care for young disabled adults, it’s important that we find out about these experiences, and help inform change for the better.”