Characteristics of people providing family placements to adult persons with intellectual disabilities.

Roy McConkey, Jayne McConaghie, Paul Roberts, Diana King

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The success of family placement schemes depends largely on the recruitment ofsuitable people who are willing to offer placements in their own home yet littleresearch has been undertaken of their characteristics and the reasons for theirinvolvement. Thirty providers of family based placements to adult persons withintellectual disabilities were individually interviewed. All but one were female; twothirdswere aged 50 plus and just over one-third were in employment. The majorityof providers have been recruited from the care sector and many had experience ofpeople with intellectual disabilities. Most had come into the schemes because of theirpersonal interest in this client group. No one came solely as a result of seeing anadvertisement and only one person explicitly mentioned the financial reimbursement.Over half had been involved for 3 years and more. All felt they gained a greatdeal of satisfaction and enjoyment from their involvement but stressed the amountof commitment needed to become a provider. The placement providers overall werevery satisfied with the way the schemes operated. The main complaint appeared tobe in regard to the low payments. Proposals are made for the future development offamily placement schemes particularly in the recruitment of providers.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)132-137
    JournalBritish Journal of Learning Disabilities
    Volume33
    Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Jul 2005

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Characteristics of people providing family placements to adult persons with intellectual disabilities.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this