Skip Navigation


BJSW Advance Access originally published online on November 17, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2006 36(6):979-996; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch389
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
36/6/979    most recent
bch389v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hanrahan, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

The Influence of Media and Respondent Characteristics on the Outcome of a Campaign to Recruit Host Families for Adults with Learning Disability

Des Hanrahan

Des Hanrahan is Senior Social Worker with the St John of God North East Services, Drumcar, Dunleer, Co. Louth, Ireland. He is Director of FAILTE Adult Respite and NETWORK FIRST—a domiciliary support service. Prior to practising as a social worker, he was Personnel Officer with Poclain Hydraulics (Ire.) Ltd, with responsibility for recruitment and retention. He is a member of the St John of God National Research Board. His research interests are service planning and development.

Correspondence to FAILTE, St John of God North East Services, Drumcar, Dunleer, Co. Louth, Ireland. E-mail: des.hanrahan{at}sjog.ie

Family-based short break schemes depend on accessing suitable hosts. Recruitment is seen as a major challenge yet there are no published studies that examine this for adult services. This paper aims to redress that by describing what type of person responded to a campaign to recruit hosts for adults with learning disabilities, and to explore if there is a relationship between (i) the outcome of each enquiry and the respondents and (ii) outcome and how the respondents found out about the service. The study involved a retrospective examination of documented information about each of forty-nine respondents, supplemented with telephone contact. The respondents were mainly married women aged thirty to fifty, with two or more children, from urban settings and who were employed outside the home. Most had heard about the service through newspapers and posters. Thirty-nine per cent applied to host. Age, family size, age of children and location were associated with outcome. Experience was an important predictor of outcome. Word of mouth was the most successful means of recruiting. While broad-based advertising is shown to attract hosts, the results can be maximized by follow-up of those who do not apply immediately. Implications for service delivery and research are discussed.

Keywords: family-based short breaks, recruiting, intellectual disability, learning disability, adults, respite


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.