How Do Peer Networks Enable Service Users and Informal Carers to Obtain and Manage Personal Budgets?
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: Since 1997, a growing proportion of United Kingdom citizens have been able to obtain a personal budget (PB) and spend it on their own support instead of using state-run health and social care services. Early studies of PBs found schemes that involved disabled people’s organisations and other peer networks (PNs) had significant advantages. However, the rapid increase in the use of PBs led to support being commissioned from a much wider range of organisations, and such schemes dwindled to a small proportion. Literature review: A systematic search of research databases and cascade search supplemented by expert suggestions identified forty-five relevant research reports published between 1997 and 2016. Data were aggregated and then subjected to a thematic analysis. The scheme developed to aggregate data shows that the supports provided by PNs could be grouped according to the different stages of obtaining and managing a PB. The approaches PNs used included fostering collaboration between individual PB users and between local agencies, enhancing communication with PB users, increasing people’s confidence about managing a PB, and applying specialist knowledge typically derived from lived experience. Focus group study: Applying the principles of emergent design within a critical constructionist framework, a secondary focus group study was developed. Three groups with a total of sixteen participants were held in the autumn of 2015, using a topic guide drawn from the literature review. Thematic analysis was again used to interpret the data. Results: While the collective approaches of PNs remain characteristic, there is considerable variation in practice between individual PNs. The support they provide can be characterised by two principal roles. Firstly, people are supported practically and emotionally to develop the skills necessary to manage PBs. Secondly, PNs mediate between the individual personal budget user and the agency funding the PB. To achieve this, th…
abstract: Background: Since 1997, a growing proportion of United Kingdom citizens have been able to obtain a personal budget (PB) and spend it on their own support instead of using state-run health and social care services. Early studies of PBs found schemes that involved disabled people’s organisations and other peer networks (PNs) had significant advantages. However, the rapid increase in the use of PBs led to support being commissioned from a much wider range of organisations, and such schemes dwindled to a small proportion. Literature review: A systematic search of research databases and cascade search supplemented by expert suggestions identified forty-five relevant research reports published between 1997 and 2016. Data were aggregated and then subjected to a thematic analysis. The scheme developed to aggregate data shows that the supports provided by PNs could be grouped according to the different stages of obtaining and managing a PB. The approaches PNs used included fostering collaboration between individual PB users and between local agencies, enhancing communication with PB users, increasing people’s confidence about managing a PB, and applying specialist knowledge typically derived from lived experience. Focus group study: Applying the principles of emergent design within a critical constructionist framework, a secondary focus group study was developed. Three groups with a total of sixteen participants were held in the autumn of 2015, using a topic guide drawn from the literature review. Thematic analysis was again used to interpret the data. Results: While the collective approaches of PNs remain characteristic, there is considerable variation in practice between individual PNs. The support they provide can be characterised by two principal roles. Firstly, people are supported practically and emotionally to develop the skills necessary to manage PBs. Secondly, PNs mediate between the individual personal budget user and the agency funding the PB. To achieve this, th…
author: Hyslop, Jonathan M.
language: en
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:43:18Z
provider: Oxford Brookes University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Oxford Brookes University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24384/3car-4921