An evaluation of St. Michael’s House contract family short break scheme

This dissertation examines the experience of St. Michael’s House Contract Family Short Break Scheme for service users and their families. It uses two major research strategies to evaluate the scheme; (1) documentary research in the form of a literature review; and (2) qualitative research in the form of interviews with families of service users. The literature provides a platform for the study by exploring the care needs of children with an intellectual disability and how short breaks can support families in providing this care. The findings of this study show service users and their families are pleased with the scheme and satisfied with the quality of care provided. However, the study recommends promotion of the scheme to increase awareness of the service so that more families can utilise this important family support and expansion the service in order to create capacity for more breaks to be made available to current service users and their families