Search

Emerging research suggests autistic people are disproportionately represented in homeless populations. Less is known about how autistic people experience homelessness and what prevents them from exiting homelessness. This article presents findings from a narrative enquiry investigating the link between autism and homelessness. Ten autistic adults consented to participate in narrative interviews which explored their life histories and pathways through homelessness. This article considers how participants experienced rough sleeping and sofa surfing before attempting to access hostels. It then examines how participants navigated support systems, arguing that barriers to accessing services perpetuated homelessness. Because of these barriers, some participants disengaged with services, preferring to sleep rough. The extent to which participants could be said to have 'chosen' homelessness is balanced with consideration of the lack of autonomy autistic adults are able to exercise over their lives. This article concludes with discussion of practical implications for services and policy in England.

Background: Meals on Wheels (MoWs) could help adults with care and support needs continue living independently. However, many people are not aware that the service still exists in England, or that it could provide benefits beyond nutrition. Objective: Working with an existing advisory group of six people with lived experience of MoWs (an adult who uses MoWs and people who have referred a family member to MoWs), this work aimed to co‐produce knowledge translation resources (two infographics and a film) to raise awareness of MoWs and their benefits. Methods: Four participatory online workshops were held in May–July 2023, to establish perceived high‐priority themes from recent qualitative research that should be included in the resources, and preferences about message content, language, design, and how the resources should be disseminated. Findings: The most important perceived MoWs benefits that the group agreed should be included in the resources were: the importance of a nutritious meal that requires no preparation; the service's reliability/consistency; the importance of interactions in reducing social isolation, and; the ease to commence the service. The group highlighted the need for language to be nontechnical and invitational, and for images to relate to respective messages, and be inclusive of anyone who could benefit from MoWs. Several routes for dissemination were proposed, highlighting the need to disseminate to the NHS, social care organisations and community groups. Conclusion: These co‐produced resources could enhance adult social care delivery in England, as raising awareness of MoWs and their benefits could increase referral rates, so that more adults with care and support needs can benefit from the service. Patient or Public Contribution: An advisory group of people with lived experience of MoWs (users of the service and family referrers) participated in the workshops, extensively discussed the findings of earlier research, co‐produced the knowledge translation resources, and advised on the implications and future dissemination steps. The group also provided informal feedback on a draft of this manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to explore the perceptions of Meals on Wheels (MoWs) service users (SUs), and people who refer them to MoWs ('referrers'), with accessing and commencing the service in England, the barriers that might hinder service uptake, and what information would be valued when considering accessing the service. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted in May–July 2022 with seven SUs and 21 referrers, recruited from four MoWs providers across England. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Participants indicated various pathways into the service, but referrers (family members) were more likely to be the ones enquiring about, and commencing, MoWs for SUs. Once an enquiry about MoWs had been made, the service was perceived as straightforward to set up. However, existing preconceptions and stereotypes were perceived to act as barriers to accessing MoWs. Information that participants deemed important to have available when deciding on whether to access MoWs related to the meals, the specific services provided, the reliability and flexibility of delivery and the cost of services. Conclusion: These findings could inform MoWs service providers' public awareness strategies about MoWs, to facilitate referrals to the service for adults with care and support needs. Patient or Public Contribution: An advisory group of people with lived experience of MoWs (users of the service and their family referrers) extensively discussed the findings of the research and advised on the implications and future dissemination steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meals on Wheels (MoWs) is a social care service providing daily meals and social contact to adults who need support to live in the community. Considering the rising number of adults who need help with shopping for food and preparing meals in England, MoWs could be essential for these individuals; yet little is known about the experiences of MoWs service users and people who refer them to MoWs ("referrers"), with the service. The aim of this study was to explore different dimensions of the MoWs service from the perspectives of MoWs service users and referrers. Semistructured interviews were conducted in May–July 2022 with seven service users and 21 referrers, recruited from four MoWs providers across England, and analysed thematically. Participants indicated that benefits of the service encompassed the daily provision of a hot, nutritious meal, an informal welfare check, the service's efficiency and reliability in promoting independent living and reducing pressures on families and carers, and the daily friendly interactions in reducing social isolation. The pandemic was not perceived to have affected participants' experiences with MoWs but longer interactions between drivers who deliver the meals and service users would be welcomed to reduce isolation further. Despite the cost-of-living crisis and an increase in MoWs prices, participants perceived that MoWs are value-for-money due to the social care benefits derived from the service. The wide range of benefits exerted by MoWs suggests that the service should be recognised as a crucial preventative resource in maintaining the wellbeing and independence of adults with care and support needs and suggests that MoWs forms an essential part of the care package that people with care and support needs receive in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging research suggests autistic people are disproportionately represented in homeless populations. Less is known about how autistic people experience homelessness and what prevents them from exiting homelessness. This article presents findings from a narrative enquiry investigating the link between autism and homelessness. Ten autistic adults consented to participate in narrative interviews which explored their life histories and pathways through homelessness. This article considers how participants experienced rough sleeping and sofa surfing before attempting to access hostels. It then examines how participants navigated support systems, arguing that barriers to accessing services perpetuated homelessness. Because of these barriers, some participants disengaged with services, preferring to sleep rough. The extent to which participants could be said to have 'chosen' homelessness is balanced with consideration of the lack of autonomy autistic adults are able to exercise over their lives. This article concludes with discussion of practical implications for services and policy in England. Recent research suggests many autistic people experience homelessness. However, little is known about the types of homelessness autistic people experience and what barriers autistic people face when trying to exit homelessness. This study involved gathering life stories of autistic people who had experienced homelessness. Ten autistic participants talked about their pathways through homelessness and the difficulties they had in accessing support. After first becoming homeless, participants tended to experience rough sleeping and sofa surfing. When participants approached housing and homelessness services, they were often told they were not eligible for support. This could happen when support workers were not aware of autism, or when autism was not considered 'severe' enough. Overcrowding, confrontation and lack of control over routine and environment were particular issues for participants when they entered homelessness hostels. Some participants chose to sleep on the streets rather than stay in environments which increased social anxiety and sensory difficulties. This study discusses ways in which homelessness and housing services can increase accessibility and improve engagement for autistic people. It is important to increase awareness of autism while understanding that autistic people who experience homelessness may have complex needs. In addition, services need to listen to autistic people with lived experience of homelessness to decide what changes will have the most impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing measures have restricted funerals and memorial events and have limited the face-to-face social networks that grieving people might normally be able to draw upon for emotional support. However, while there is considerable expert informed speculation about the impacts of grief and "COVID bereavement", detailed accounts of experiences of bereavement and bereavement support during the pandemic have the potential to enrich and provide nuance and subtlety to the evidence base. This paper draws on diary accounts of bereavement support volunteers in the UK, who have been providing support for the bereaved through these challenging times. These reveal layers of complexity to the experiences of loss, grief and bereavement during these extraordinary times. However, they also point to a number of additional themes that lend a more positive valence to the suspension of normal social expectations and memorial practices associated with the pandemic, which, we argue should be reflected upon for their potential to address the discontents of contemporary governance of end of life and bereavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meals on Wheels (MoWs), a service offered by local authorities in England, deliver meals to older, housebound and/or vulnerable adults, who might otherwise not be able to acquire and prepare their own meals. Research suggests that MoWs provide benefits beyond nutrition. Little is known about the actual interactions between service providers and clients, particularly during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The aim of this small‐scale, formative study was to explore MoWs service providers' experiences and their perceptions around the benefits and challenges faced by the service, and understand how these experiences changed during the first UK national lockdown. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted in September 2020 with 18 service providers of MoWs (drivers who deliver the meals, service coordinators and managers) in two local authorities in England, and analysed thematically. Participants indicated that benefits of the service encompassed those to clients (e.g. welfare checks, encouraging independence and identifying and addressing isolation and loneliness), employees (e.g. sense of pride, rewarding relationships with clients) and the wider community (e.g. reducing pressures on families), and described MoWs as the 'fourth emergency service' (e.g. being the first responders to emergency situations). Participants identified several challenges faced by the MoWs service, including organisational challenges (e.g. funding cuts and closures, lack of appropriate publicity to raise awareness of the service) and restrictions on time spent with clients. The pandemic and lockdown resulted in increased demand on resources, concerns about client and staff wellbeing and uncertainty about how the service will cope if lockdowns continue. These findings provide important insights regarding the wide benefits of MoWs and the challenges the service faces, which can be used as the formative research base to guide future interventions and policies to protect vulnerable adults, not only during the COVID‐19 pandemic, but beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential contribution of timebanking, an innovative volunteering scheme, to the co‐production of preventive social care with adults in England. Interest in volunteering in social care has increased as one proposed solution to the international crisis of a rising demand for services in juxtaposition with decreased resources. Volunteering has been particularly promoted in preventive services that prevent or delay care needs arising. Despite sustained interest in volunteering and co‐production in social care, little is known about how theory translates into practice. Reporting implementation data from a Realistic Evaluation of six case studies in England, this paper explores one volunteering scheme, timebanking. The research explores how timebanks were working, what contribution they can make to adult social care, and whether they are an example of co‐production. Data collected included interviews, focus groups or open question responses on surveys from 84 timebank members, and semi‐structured interviews with 13 timebank staff. Each timebank was visited at least twice, and all timebank activity was analysed for a period of 12 months. Data were triangulated to improve reliability. The research found that in practice, timebanks were not working as described in theory, there were small numbers of person‐to‐person exchanges and some timebanks had abandoned this exchange model. Timebanks faced significant implementation challenges including managing risk and safeguarding and the associated bureaucracy, a paternalistic professional culture and the complexity of the timebank mechanism which required adequate resources. Lessons for timebanks are identified, as well as transferable lessons about co‐production and volunteering in social care if such schemes are to be successful in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]