This thesis explores the lived experiences of people with learning difficulties who remained within their home inner London borough of Kensington and Chelsea between 1971 and 2007: an era when many others were moved out-of-area. A multiple-method design combined autobiographical data from people with learning difficulties with oral history evidence from key witnesses and archive sources. The research had three main aims: 1. to explore how people with learning difficulties, including individuals with high support needs, could compile and share their life stories and experiences of local support. This required openness to the development of new methodological approaches. 2. to draw upon these previously unexplored life stories to better understand what had supported people to 'stay local'. This required an examination of how community-based services and support had evolved in the locality and how crisis periods, when individuals were at risk of a move out-of-area, were resolved using local networks and services. 3. to consider the application of the research to contemporary social care a policy and practice. This necessitated a review of findings in the light of their relevance to the delivery of increasingly localised and personalised support for adults with learning difficulties. Through use of mobile interviews, individual life journey maps and co-produced borough maps, the research explores and presents new methodological approaches to support the sharing of life stories. Findings were that staying local was initially due to care provided by families, many of whom built up their own informal networks of support in the locality,. Analysis of how crisis periods were locally resolved identified the importance of responsive short break and supported living services, staff who advocated for local support and long-standing relationships between individuals, families and local services.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:733556 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Ledger, Susan June |
| Publisher | Open University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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