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Developing the use of ICT to enhance community participation with people with learning disabilities. Sarah Parsons, Harry Daniel, Jill Porter, Christopher Robertson

Background
This was a two-year research project carried out between January 2003 and December 2004 by the Home Farm Trust (HFT) in partnership with the School of Education, University of Birmingham, and funded by the Community Fund (now the Big Lottery Fund).

HFT is a national charity providing a range of services to adults with learning disabilities and their families, including day and residential provision as well as advocacy and supported living. Since 1997, with funding from the Community fund, HFT has systematically purchased Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources and deployed them in accordance within a strategic policy framework in all its day and residential services. ICT resources include computers, printers, touch screen monitors, Internet connections and digital cameras.

Aims
There were three main aims of the research project:

1. To identify how ICT is, and could be, used to most effectively improve the quality of life for all of HFT's service users and enhance their community participation
2. To identify the processes, systems and structures that support the effective use of ICT and explore their implementation for the benefit of all service users
3. To promote the ongoing development of provision through the active involvement of staff and service users in the analysis of effective practice and the means by which it is facilitated

Main findings and implications
There is much in the use/deployment of ICT for service users for HFT to be proud about; service users at some sites are benefiting substantially from their use of the resources. At these sites, ICT has become a vital component of core activities, helping to facilitate learning, communication, community participation and creative skills. Such practice demonstrates that all sites within the organisation could reach this level of use, and continue to develop their skills and understanding. The benefits to service users across the organisation would be considerable. ICT was regularly being used in day and residential services to facilitate communication. This was especially encouraging in relation to the role improved communication has been shown to play in facilitating community participation. This emphasis on communication is particularly important for service users whose needs are complex. The importance of this is critical to future developments in the organisation, given that it is likely to increasingly make provision for this particular group of service users.

Planning, regular scheduling, positive attitudes of staff and an understanding about how and why ICT was useful for adults with learning disabilities were important factors in promoting successful use of the resources.
ICT was also being used effectively /innovatively in those day services with clear processes for person-centred planning (PCP). Our data suggest that services which enable effective use of technology and development of person centred systems share many of the values that underpin effective use of ICT. Without adequate, continuous financial support the ICT implementation has the potential to stall. It could become an isolated feature of the good practice currently in place. The power that ICT for service users has in transforming views of, and practices within, services for adults with learning disabilities sends a clear message about the further potential of this resource, especially in relation to supporting service users in their participation in mainstream activities and lifelong learning. There is a need for funding beyond the original capital investment in the technology. The use of ICT is unlike other activities taking place in HFT Services (such as drama, music, arts and crafts) due to the specific requirements for training, learning new skills, and the ongoing need to update, maintain and purchase equipment. The need for continuous development, support and updating emphasises the importance of considering the use of ICT for/with service users as a core, rather than value-added, or in some way optional, activity. Adequate financial support impacts on other important issues in ICT implementation including opportunities and support for training (and where that takes place); technical support; and clarity on the wider purpose and function of ICT in the context of service provision for adults with learning disabilities more generally. The surfacing of important issues about the integral role that ICT has to play within the work of HFT together with the financial costs involved in providing excellent services, needs to be brought to the attention of service purchasers. Ironically, effective implementation of ICT is likely to be of long-term net financial benefit given the potential that it has for boosting capability on the part of service users and thus reducing the need for other forms of support. Service provision for adults with learning disabilities is no longer just about caring for the individual, or simply ensuring that needs are met. It encompasses many other things and ICT should form an essential part of this. There is a need for staff, as well as funding authorities, to update their views on what provision means, how it is achieved, and how ICT can become an integral part of all service developments.

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