Dear Madam/Sir,
We are a research team from University College London (UCL). We would like to invite you to complete our survey for facilitators/supporters who run groups for people (aged 16+) with mild to moderate learning disabilities.
If you facilitate or support a group/s for people with mild to moderate learning disabilities and are happy to share your experiences of running groups in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, we would be grateful to hear from you. Please complete our survey via the link below, this should take around 15 minutes to complete.
What is the background to this survey?
Our research project, on the Standing Up for Myself (STORM) programme, which aims to help people with learning disabilities manage and resist stigma, had to be paused when the Covid-19 pandemic took hold back in March. The need for a programme like STORM did not disappear in the event of a national lockdown - if anything the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the stigma and inequalities faced by people with learning disabilities.
In attempt to make STORM accessible in times when groups cannot meet in person, we are now undertaking work to adapt the STORM programme for online delivery via a digital platform. To ensure our adaptation of digital STORM takes careful note of what is happening in services across the country in the wake of the pandemic, we are seeking to understand the experiences of facilitators/supporters who run groups for people with learning disabilities. We would like to hear about group activities and how these have changed and are interested in how you have needed to adapt and supported your members to use technology and online meeting platforms. What you tell us will help shape our digital STORM programme and future research.
Please kindly share this email with other facilitators/supporters of groups for people with learning disabilities that you know.
If you have any questions about the survey or would like more information about the research, please do not hesitate to contact Michaela Osborne (contact details below).
Best Wishes,
The STORM Project Team
Michaela Osborne
Research Assistant
m.osborne@ucl.ac.uk
Katrina Scior
Professor of Clinical Psychology and Stigma Studies (Project Lead)
Research Dept of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 7HB