Hear our voice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Hear our voice: social participation in adults with intellectual disability
IRAS ID
321480
Contact name
Gill Livingston
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL Joint Research Office
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
People with ID are often socially isolated and this may be a particular problem as they get older, therefore, require new approaches to maximise health and reduce inequalities, for which reducing social isolation and increasing social participation may be one effective approach. However, we do not yet know how to support adults with ID to reduce isolation. The PhD student will investigate social participation among people with ID in order to find out more about how to increase the social participation of those with ID. Social participation here means the social lives participants have and the social situations they are in. This will be the first study aiming to understand the scale of social participation and how it impacts the lives of people with ID.
This study aims to investigate the nature of social participation among adults with intellectual disability, and what helps them increase social participation and quality of life. The PhD student aims to recruit 20-25 adults with mild to moderate intellectual disability aged ≥50 years old from NHS community services and voluntary sector organisations for photo-elicitation interviews in England. Photo-elicitation interview is a qualitative research method in which photographs taken by participants are used as a stimulus or guide to elicit a rich account of the content of the photos.
The PhD student will ask the participants in the study to take as many photos as they wish about their social lives, including social situations they take part in, then discuss in a one-to-one interview with the researcher how these photos reflect their social participation. She will also ask them about what helped them to see people and what makes it more difficult. This will help improve our understanding of the current level and range of social participation of people with mild to moderate intellectual disability, as well as the barriers and facilitators to this process.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0091
Date of REC Opinion
25 May 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion