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AbstractDespite an increased focus in recent years on Aboriginal people with disability within disability studies and advocacy, limited attention has been paid to Aboriginal people in Australian disability services policy. This article examines the consultation with Aboriginal organisations for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), a new disability policy personalising care through individual service funding packages. The article interrogates how, and to what extent, the government has sought and incorporated the views of Aboriginal people with disability into NDIS policy. Using thematic content analysis, governmental NDIS‐related documents are compared with Aboriginal organisation submissions and public hearing transcripts, to identify tensions in perspectives regarding Aboriginal peoples' participation in the NDIS. The article concludes that governmental responsiveness to Aboriginal organisations in the NDIS operates from predetermined constructions of Aboriginality and disability.

Aborigines und Bewohner/innen der australischen Torres-Strait-Inseln gehören zu den am häufigsten beforschten Gruppen weltweit. Im Rahmen indigener Methodologien wurden historisch-kolonialistische und häufig ausbeuterische Forschungsparadigmen revidiert zugunsten von sozial gerechteren Ansätzen, die die Perspektiven und Stimmen von Ureinwohner/innen privilegieren In diesem Beitrag beschreiben wir unsere Erfahrungen mit der Zusammenarbeit von aboriginalen und anglo-australischen Forschenden in einem kunstbasierten Handlungsforschungsprojekt mit fünf Gemeinschaften von Aborigines in New South Wales, Australien. Wir zeigen, wie wichtig Reflexivität war, um den Einfluss von Insider- vs. Outsider-Standpunkten im Prozess des Designs und der Durchführung einer kulturell und ethisch informierten Forschung mit diesen Gemeinschaften zu verstehen. Reflexivität und ein kollaborativer, adaptiver Forschungsansatz helfen auch, die kulturelle und professionelle Integrität in solchen Projekten zu sichern.

This paper outlines an action research methodology used to create a practice-informed resource for social care in Australia. Practitioners and researchers worked together to develop, test and refine a process to engage people with cognitive disability and complex support needs in person-centred planning. The planning approach, which calls for planners to reflect on their own skills and attitudes as well as the unique needs of an individual, has helped to improve practice in a number of fields and locations in Australia. The process marks a substantive practice shift towards recognition of planning as fundamentally relational in nature. This paper reflects on the process of action research which we describe as similarly relational and potentially transformative of the relations between researchers and practitioners. Working within a knowledge translation paradigm we show how reflexivity within the researcher/practitioner relationship in action research calls for a substantive shift in perspective by researchers to effectively work within the complex contexts of practitioners themselves. In taking this opportunity in our research practice, we identify the potential for a fundamentally different praxis to emerge, one more deeply grounded in the conceptual, political and practical relations between researchers, practitioners and those whose lives they seek to enhance.

BackgroundPlanners will engage with people with cognitive disability and complex support needs in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme, but the specific skills needed to build sustainable plans with this group are not yet known.MethodA qualitative study was conducted to explore the barriers and facilitators to planning with people with cognitive disability and complex support needs. Focus groups were held with 99 planning practitioners across metropolitan and regional locations in New South Wales, Australia.ResultsThematic analysis showed planners need to build a partnership based on mutual trust and respect with a person with complex support needs and harness a range of skills to respond to individual support needs, learning capacity, systemic hurdles and life challenges.ConclusionsPlanner skills can be used to address barriers to planning for people with cognitive disability and complex support needs. Gaining skills took professional support and personal commitment.

Women with disability face participation barriers based on long-held misconceptions around their identity that adversely affect their health, income levels, and access to education and employment. It has been noted that photographs produced through photovoice methodology can help dismantle attitudinal and environmental barriers that people with disability continue to confront, but this method is rarely assessed for impact. In this protocol paper, we merge principles of feminist theory, photovoice methodology and integrated knowledge translation to generate 1. exhibition-quality participant-created photography on identity, 2. discussion around and insight into inclusion for women with disability and 3. a public exhibition to understand any impact these photographs may have on audiences and discriminatory barriers. Photographs, text, discussions and audience feedback are to be interrogated through thematic and narrative analysis. By aiming our arts-based research findings for a public audience, we hope to advance understanding of female identity and inclusion.

AbstractDisability support systems have not consistently used family‐centered practices when supporting families of children with disability. Families have experienced structural and interpersonal barriers that have negatively impacted not only their child's quality of life, but also family quality of life (FQOL). The eight domains of QOL as defined by the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities [IASSID] are reflected in a family‐centered model of support developed for children and young people by Microboards Australia. The Microboards for Children [MB4C] model reflects best family centered practice based on principles that integrate well with recognised FQOL domains such as family relationships, support from other people and from disability‐related services, and leisure and enjoyment of life. The MB4C model aims to enhance families' knowledge, skills, confidence, and sense of wellbeing to support them develop a vision for an active, socially connected, and happy future with their child. The model consists of a structured network of formal and informal support to enhance not only their child or young person's personal relationships, social networks, and community inclusion but also to enable parents and siblings to access education, employment and to enjoy life in their community – all indicators of FQOL. In this paper we explore how these features of MB4C policies and practice align with family‐centered practice principles and with FQOL domains. We argue that the MB4C model provides an example of how FQOL may be enhanced by a holistic family‐centered disability service system that works in partnership with families with disability.

AbstractPeer support describes the process of giving and receiving support between people who share similar life experiences. It is commonly used by family members of people with disability, with positive outcomes. However, existing research tends to assume it has separate and discrete benefits, neglecting the subtleties of how the different outcomes may be interconnected and mutually reinforcing. An account of these broader connections between benefits is needed. Drawing on Australian data from 24 parents and siblings of people with disability, this paper identifies benefits of peer support, including exchange of information, benefiting from experience and problem solving; motivation/encouragement and self‐confidence/personal development; social interaction and friendship; understanding, perspective and belonging/community; working together for change; and resilience and well‐being. The paper then proposes a framework to understand these benefits in an interconnected manner, where they are either transactional (giving and receiving practical and social‐emotional resources) or integrative (assimilating what is given and received into one's own experience and actions). The implications for practice and for families are discussed.

AbstractPeople with intellectual disability in Australia experience poor mental health, are underrepresented in mental health policy, and encounter major barriers in accessing mental health services and treatments. This study interrogated the current representation of people with intellectual disability and recommended strategies to enhance the inclusion of intellectual disability in mental health policy. A policy analysis framework was developed that included context, stakeholders, process, and content. Nine pieces of Australian mental health legislation and 37 mental health policy documents were analyzed using the framework. Fifteen of the 37 documents included mention of intellectual disability with limited attention to the specific mental health needs of people with intellectual disability and mental illness. Only two documents identified specific strategies or measurable actions and targets to improve the access of people with intellectual disability and mental illness to mental health services. The documents' strengths that may be applied to develop inclusive intellectual disability mental health policy included being values‐based, recognizing diversity, taking a life‐course approach, focusing on workforce development, and ensuring checks and balances. An inclusive approach to the development and implementation of intellectual disability mental health policy will best meet the mental health needs of individuals with intellectual disability. An inclusive policy approach will be based on a sound evidence‐base and include a comprehensive understanding of the context in which the policy is developed; consultation with key stakeholders including people with intellectual disability and mental illness, their family and carers, and those who work with them; cross‐sector collaboration and workforce training. An inclusive approach to the development and implementation of intellectual disability mental health policy using an integrated knowledge translation approach will address the current lack of attention to the important area of how to best meet the mental health needs of individuals with intellectual disability.

Kunstbasierte Verfahren bedürfen weniger als andere verbaler Kommunikation. Deshalb sind sie besonders für die Untersuchung sensitiver oder widersprüchlicher Sachverhalte geeignet, die teilweise nur schwer artikuliert werden können, und um die Erfahrungen marginalisierter Gruppen, z.B. von Menschen mit vielfältigem Unterstützungsbedarf zu explorieren. Das visuelle, kunstbasierte Verfahren des Body Mapping bietet Forschungsteilnehmer/innen alternative Möglichkeiten, ihre Perspektive und ihr Erleben auf eine nicht verbale Weise zum Ausdruck zu bringen. In diesem Beitrag berichten wir über die Verwendung des Body Mapping in Forschungsarbeiten mit zwei benachteiligten Gruppen: kognitiv-beeinträchtigte Erwachsene und junge Menschen, in beiden Fällen mit erheblichem Hilfebedarf. Wir zeigen, wie Forschungsteilnehmer/innen in ihren Wahlen und in ihren Kontrollmöglichkeiten im Verlauf der Forschung unterstützt wurden, und wie Forschende das Schaffen und Aufrechterhalten einer sicher und hilfreichen Umgebung sicherstellten. Body Mapping erwies sich dabei als wichtiges praktisches Hilfsmittel sowohl für Betroffene als auch für deren Hilfspersonen. Insoweit können kunstbasierte Forschungsmethoden wie das Body Mapping dazu beitragen, dass Betroffene ihren Bedürfnissen gemäß an Forschung partizipieren können und dass zugleich ein besseres Verstehen ihrer Erfahrungen, Perspektiven und Gefühle ermöglicht wird.