Older Carers of Adults with a Learning Disability Confront the Future: Issues and Preferences in Planning

The Valuing People White Paper (Department of Health, 2001)requires services to secure a plan for all service-users withlearning disabilities living with older carers and promisesthem and their families more choice and control over how andwhere they live. This paper examines the views of the oldercarers (aged over seventy) of sixty-two adults with a learningdisability about planning for the future. Fifty-six took partin interviews in their own homes and six completed a questionnaire.All carers were white and recruited from one local authorityin response to the requirements of the White Paper. Findingsindicate that a significant proportion (thirty-four—55per cent) is either not ready or is unwilling to make futureplans. Barriers to planning include a perceived lack of needdue to the existence of two carers, a lack of awareness of timescalesinvolved in securing housing, difficulties in letting go, alack of confidence in available housing options, and the existenceof mutually supportive relationships. The findings show a needfor a proactive approach to information and support provisionto enable these families to work through a process of makingplans for the future. This is essential to prevent the needfor emergency placements in response to crisis and in turn toensure that adults with learning disabilities have genuine choiceand involvement in how and where they live.     

Communicative Experiences of Military Youth During a Parent’s Return Home from Deployment

The return home of a service member from tour of duty can be stressful for military families (Bowling & Sherman, 2008), but surprisingly little is known about how military youth communicatively experience a parent’s homecoming (MacDermid Wadsworth, 2010). This study draws on the emotional cycle of deployment model (Pincus, House, Christenson, & Adler, 2001) to examine the reunion period in military youth’s own words. Individual interviews were conducted with 31 military youth (age range = 10 to 13 years old). Participants identified four changes to family life (RQ1), including spending time together, experiencing emotional tranquility, returning to patterns in place before deployment, and having difficulty reintegrating the service member into everyday routines. Some military youth reported that the reunion matched their expectations (RQ2), but others noted that the reunion fell short of their expectations or that they did not expect the returning service member to be so tired or so irritable. Participants also described four issues of uncertainty (RQ3), including questions about the service member’s activities during deployment, reasons for joining and deploying, family life, and the possibility of future deployments. The article concludes by examining the theoretical and pragmatic implications of the findings.     

Communication of Military Couples During Deployment and Reunion: Changes,Challenges, Benefits,and Advice

The emotional cycle of deployment model proposes that military couples face both obstacles and opportunities across the trajectory of deployment. Guided by the model, we seek to address gaps in the literature by investigating how 236 recently reunited service members and at-home partners (N = 118 couples) describe their experiences during deployment and reunion. Results of content analyses revealed a variety of changes to communication during deployment (RQ1), challenges of reunion (RQ2), benefits of deployment (RQ3), and advice for reintegration (RQ4). These findings bolster and extend the emotional cycle of deployment model; they also have practical utility for helping military couples navigate deployment and reunion.     

Adults with a Learning Disability Living with Elderly Carers Talk about Planning for the Future: Aspirations and Concerns

The majority of adults with a learning disability live withfamily carers, many of whom are ageing and have support needsof their own. Planning for the future thus becomes the key topreventing a crisis situation when family care is no longerviable because of death or ill health. Existing knowledge andpractice are largely based upon the perspective of professionalsand carers. This study explores the views, aspirations and concernsof adults with a learning disability, about living at home andplanning for the future. Findings show that participants werevery aware of the need for alternative housing or support inthe future and had clear preferences about their future options.However, they also showed extensive concern for their familycarers and this often impacted on their willingness to planfor the future or to move to alternative housing. Their demonstrableawareness of the inevitable death or ill health of family carers,and willingness to engage with the implications, emphasize theimportance of involving adults with a learning disability inplanning for their future, as well as providing them with bereavementsupport.     

Enabling Adults with Learning Disabilities to Articulate their Housing Needs

Correspondence to Dr Alex McGlaughlin, Department of Social Sciences, The Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham NG1 4BU, UK. E-mail: alex.mcglaughlin{at} ntu.ac.uk Summary This study is about involving adults with learning disabilitiesin service planning by asking them to articulate their own needsin relation to housing. It also identifies some of the barriersto meeting the housing needs of this group. The views expressedindicate that ordinary housing with small numbers is the preference,and that appropriate support is highly valued. This suggestsa need for housing of a supported living model or similar. Theservice users in this study were clearly able to verbalize theirpreferences as well as to think through potential options. However,there is also clear evidence that they feel powerless in makingchoices, with decisions being taken on their behalf by professionalsand carers. This demonstrates the need for a cultural shiftwhereby the voices of adults with learning disabilities areheard and acted upon.     

Assessing the Barriers to Achieving Genuine Housing Choice for Adults with a Learning Disability: The Views of Family Carers and Professionals

It has been reported that the capability of adults with a learningdisability to choose their housing is too often impeded by theviews and actions of their family carers and involved professionals(McGlaughlin and Gorfin, with Saul, in press). This study furtherexplores these apparent barriers to providing genuine housingchoice for adults with learning disabilities. It discusses findingsfrom a series of focus groups which explored family and professionalviews about housing and choice. The views expressed indicatethat risk is a fundamental concern for both professionals andfamilies when considering more independent housing for thisgroup. Although opportunities for choice were generally supported,many argued for the need to assess the ability to make informeddecisions. There were also examples of problematic relationshipsbetween professionals and carers, creating a barrier to choice.Carers need involvement, information and support during thedevelopment of housing plans if the needs of the primary serviceusersare to be met. The barriers identified have to be removed ifservice-users are to truly become the focus of decisions andbe enabled to make genuine informed choices.