Paper: Care Relationships in Social Care Residential Settings

A recently published paper from an School-funded Doctoral Student explores care relationships between support staff (e.g., support workers) and adults with a learning disability in long-term social care residential settings in the United Kingdom.

Georgios Mamolis from the University of Kent aimed to synthesise relevant literature, expand knowledge, and identify directions for future research. The research investigated questions about care relationships and what makes them positive, definitions of care relationships, relational practices and processes, barriers and facilitators to good care relationships, the impact of relationships and restoration of disrupted relationships.

The review found that “definitions of care relationships revolved around friendship, equality, professionalism, and power. Practices and processes underlying positive relationships included knowing the person, setting boundaries, and shifting power dynamics. Barriers to positive care relationships included staff interactional patterns, attributions, and staff dilemmas, whilst facilitators included receiving training and using communication tools. Good care relationships were key to effective support and ways to restore disrupted relationships included receiving input from systemic therapy”.

Read the full paper:

Care Relationships Between Support Staff and Adults With a Learning Disability in Long-Term Social Care Residential Settings in the United Kingdom: A Systematic Literature Review
Georgios Mamolis, Paraskevi Triantafyllopoulou, Karen Jones
Journal of Long-term Care, May 2024
https://doi.org/10.31389/jltc.189