Scope participates in National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health conference

On 3 July, Dr Caroline Hart, Scope’s Research Officer, and Annie Loughens, Scope Research Assistant, participated in a panel discussion as part of this year’s National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health Conference.

The discussion, titled “Research Co Design in Intellectual Disability Health”, covered inclusive research methods.

Caroline’s and Annie’s contributions focused on co-research – that is, research carried out “with” or “by” people with disability rather than “to”, “about” or “for” them. Research that involves people with disability as co-researchers has produced important findings across a range of areas such as the health of people with disability, employment, inclusion and advocacy, and supporting research conducted by people with disability is an important part of Scope’s work.

The panel discussion, which went for 90 minutes and included audience interaction, was an opportunity for Caroline and Annie to share lessons and findings from a course on co-research that Scope ran for eight people who access Scope’s services through weekly two-hour sessions from March to May 2024.

The course was for people with intellectual disability to learn about what research is and how to carry it out. It covered key topics such as developing a research question, writing a literature review, collecting data via surveys and interviews, analysing data, conducting ethical research, and presenting research findings.

Course participants reported that they had an “overall positive experience”, learned new skills and built new relationships, among other benefits.

After the course, some participants, such as Annie, continued to work in Scope as Research Assistants. They have carried out presentations about their experiences of doing the course at national and international conferences.

During the conference, Annie spoke about her experience of undertaking the course and being a Research Assistant.

She said during the panel discussion, “I found that by doing the course, I grew in confidence in different ways. It is empowering and meaningful for to me work with like-minded people who want to achieve positive outcomes for people with intellectual disability.” Caroline said during the session, “ It is exciting to see our clients being involved in the research process. Involving people with intellectual disability in research ensures they have a voice about what is important to them and creates better outcomes for the end users.”

Other panel speakers included representatives from the Centre for Disability Studies and GeneEQUAL.