Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

The operation of the social support sector serving siblings of people with disabilities

A cross‐country analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID11196575
AuthorsA Meltzer (0000-0002-8738-0469, Centre for Social Impact UNSW Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume56
Issue3
Pages423-437
Publication date2022-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Policy and Administration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/spol.12775
OpenAlexW3204572210
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited15

Sibling support is a form of support often offered to the brother or sister of a person with disability. While practiced around the world and the subject of much research interest, most research about sibling support has been outcomes evaluation of individual sibling support programs, rather than about the operational/structural circumstances of the organizations providing sibling support or of the sibling support sector at large. Within this context, this paper offers the first research of its kind: an exploratory study of the business operation of sibling support in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, USA and Canada. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with 13 leaders of sibling support provider organizations in these countries, the paper focuses on sibling support providers' business models, funding, staffing, leadership and governance. The findings highlight that across countries, sibling support is a sub‐section of the not‐for‐profit/charity sector that mostly operates with minimal funding and staffing, and which is largely driven by the passion and personal experience of those who run sibling support organizations. The paper discusses the implications of the findings, with the conceptual lens of seeking to formalize recognition and legitimacy for sibling support as a distinct social service type within the disability/health/social care and not‐for‐profit/charity spaces. Further, by aggregating the experiences of sibling support providers across countries, the paper is able to show that—while a distinct service type and sector—the successes and challenges of the sibling support sector nevertheless also very much reflect the broader struggles of many other small not‐for‐profits/charities

Business · Developmental psychology · Economics · Family support · Management · Political science · Public relations · Sibling · Sister · Social support · Staffing · Family and Disability Support Research · Family Support in Illness · Healthcare innovation and challenges · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology

  • Parent's Perceptions of the Family Impacts of Covid‐19 Lockdowns on Themselves and Siblings of Children With Developmental Disabilities

    Open Access•Helen Bourke‐Taylor, Monica Leo et al.•Child & Family Social Work•2025

  • Extraordinary measures of sibling worldmaking

    Open Access•P Block, Helen Ries et al.•Medical Anthropology Quarterly•2025

  • What is 'sibling support'? Defining the social support sector serving siblings of people with disability

    Open Access•A Meltzer•Social Science & Medicine•2021

  • Young Carers Research, Practice and Policy

    Open Access•Stephen Joseph, Joe Sempik et al.•Adolescent Research Review•2020

  • An ecological and systems thinking approach for support to siblings with and without disabilities

    Open Access•A Meltzer, Kristy Muir•Social Theory & Health•2021

  • Affects of policy design

    Open Access•Chloe Alexander•Social Policy and Administration•2021

  • Ageing with a learning disability

    Open Access•Anne Power, Ruth Bartlett•Social Science & Medicine•2019

Unique citing works3
Citations per year0.6
Citation span2021 - 2025 (5)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 3

Tools

Open DOI
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae