An evaluation of the development and implementation of individualised funding for people with a disability
type: CreativeWork
description: Background Since the 1970s, there has been an important and continuing shift within the disability sector toward self-determination and independence for people with a disability. Individualised funding provides one way of achieving such self-determination by providing personalised and self-directed supports for people with a disability. Such supports have become globally recognised as a viable alternative to traditional group-orientated and centre-based ‘service provision’. Typically resourced from public funds, individualised funding initiatives aim to empower individuals with a disability to envision the life they want and purchase the necessary supports they need to enable them to reach their short and longer-term goals and aspirations. Objectives The research reported in this thesis was designed to: (1) map the historical and political context within which disability service provision has emerged in Ireland and to examine, in particular, trends in, and funding of, day service provision within the disability sector; (2) explore the perceived effectiveness of individualised funding in Ireland and the extent to which it might be an appropriate, feasible and acceptable mechanism for supporting people with a disability; and (3) to undertake a comprehensive mixed methods systematic review in order to examine the actual and perceived effectiveness of individualised funding initiatives for adults with a lifelong disability in terms of improvements in their health and social care outcomes, as well as the lived experience of implementation. Methods Three separate but related studies were conducted using mixed methods approaches within a pragmatic framework. Study One was retrospective in nature and used secondary national data to examine day-service utilisation in Ireland during a 15-year period (1998 to 2013). Study Two involved an in-depth national evaluation of four individualised funding pilot initiatives in Ireland. This study incorporated an extensive documentary an…
abstract: Background Since the 1970s, there has been an important and continuing shift within the disability sector toward self-determination and independence for people with a disability. Individualised funding provides one way of achieving such self-determination by providing personalised and self-directed supports for people with a disability. Such supports have become globally recognised as a viable alternative to traditional group-orientated and centre-based ‘service provision’. Typically resourced from public funds, individualised funding initiatives aim to empower individuals with a disability to envision the life they want and purchase the necessary supports they need to enable them to reach their short and longer-term goals and aspirations. Objectives The research reported in this thesis was designed to: (1) map the historical and political context within which disability service provision has emerged in Ireland and to examine, in particular, trends in, and funding of, day service provision within the disability sector; (2) explore the perceived effectiveness of individualised funding in Ireland and the extent to which it might be an appropriate, feasible and acceptable mechanism for supporting people with a disability; and (3) to undertake a comprehensive mixed methods systematic review in order to examine the actual and perceived effectiveness of individualised funding initiatives for adults with a lifelong disability in terms of improvements in their health and social care outcomes, as well as the lived experience of implementation. Methods Three separate but related studies were conducted using mixed methods approaches within a pragmatic framework. Study One was retrospective in nature and used secondary national data to examine day-service utilisation in Ireland during a 15-year period (1998 to 2013). Study Two involved an in-depth national evaluation of four individualised funding pilot initiatives in Ireland. This study incorporated an extensive documentary an…
author: Fleming, Padraic
language: en
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:03:07Z
provider: National University of Ireland - Maynooth
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: National University of Ireland Maynooth