Participatory Action Research Lead (KTP Associate)

The University of Essex is excited to have formed a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the Minstead Trust. The Minstead Trust is a charity based in Hampshire, which works in collaboration with people with learning disabilities and their family carers, to enable them to achieve greater independence and live happier and healthier lives. One of their main areas of work is accommodation support. As they transition into adult accommodation support services, adults with a learning disability, their family carers, and Minstead Trust accommodation support staff form a tripartite relationship through which support is planned and delivered within the Minstead Trust. However, to date practices in support provision have differed, leading to miscommunications, relationship difficulties, and some areas of inconsistency and discontinuity in provided support and living circumstances. There are also often difficulties experienced during the transition from child to adult learning disability services. These are sector wide issues, which ultimately impact service users participation in the various activities and occupations that provide meaning, purpose, and routine within their everyday lives.

The KTP will last for 24 months and utilise a participatory action research (PAR) approach to engage relevant stakeholders who comprise and surround the tripartite relationship described above. Together they will co-produce, implement, and evaluate distinct new ways of working. These new ways of working will revolutionise engagement between adults with learning disabilities, their family carers, and Minstead Trust staff, and lead to improved experiences for all stakeholders.

As a KTP, the KTP Associate role constitutes more than just the completion of a research project, as the focus of the role is to facilitate knowledge transfer between the University and the Minstead Trust. A key objective is that the KTP also embeds the capability of co-production within the Minstead Trust through staff engagement and support. Co-production involves partnership working towards a mutually defined aim, where everyone connected with an issue plays an active part, and existing skills, experience and knowledge are valued and utilised (Pettican et al, 2022).