Learning from each other in the context of personalisation and self-build social care

UK policy for adults with intellectual disabilities no longer supports state-provided building-based day care but promotes personalised care and support under individuals’ control with choice of community-based opportunities. The research explored experiences of this new terrain and the informal learning involved. An initial scoping review was followed by interviews with key service providers in one urban and one rural area in England and one of each in Scotland. Next, ethnographic fieldwork with people with intellectual disabilities involved a flexible mix of observations, interviews, focus groups, and participant-generated visual data. Thematic analysis involved an iterative mix of deductive and inductive coding. Findings showed informal peer learning ranged from ad hoc to structurally supported. Though learning was often tacit, support was valued and agency developed. The availability of local supportive people and schemes and time spent in them to develop new skills and identities was vital to people self-building community lives