Being Warm Being Happy
Understanding factors influencing adults with learning disabilities being warm and well at home with inclusive research
Bibliographic Data
The aim of the Being Warm Being Happy project was to understand and characterise fuel poverty and energy vulnerability from the perspective of adults with learning disabilities. Undertaken in community settings in South Yorkshire, UK, the study adopted an inclusive research approach, with three members of a self-advocacy organisation who have learning disabilities and/or autism working alongside academics as co-researchers. The study incorporated home temperature and humidity measurements and qualitative individual interviews. Ten households, all of which included an adult with learning disabilities participated in the research. Framework analysis identified four interrelated themes influencing decisions about energy use and payment method. First, energy need varied according to health status. Energy need was also influenced by the size, tenure and age of the participant’s home. Second, emotions, attitudes and values, in particular a sense of control impacted upon energy use. Third, knowledge and previous experience could help or hinder participants keeping warm. Factors included prior first-hand experiences of support from self-advocacy organisations, energy companies and local authorities and the influence of parents’ views and practices. Finally, concerns about affordability and challenges accessing the energy market also had an important impact on experiences and decisions. The research contributes to the limited evidence base about the nature and experience of fuel poverty amongst adults with learning disabilities highlighting the extent to which the existing energy system puts them at a disadvantage and the resourcefulness and resilience of many adults with learning disabilities when facing these challenges
Developmental psychology · Psychotherapist · Well-being · Disability Education and Employment · Down syndrome and intellectual disability research · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Social Psychology
What is inclusive research?
Using the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data in multi-disciplinary health research
"I have a panic attack when I pick up the phone"
Qualitative Research Practice
What are the effects of energy poverty and interventions to ameliorate it on people's health and well-being
Cool? Young people investigate living in cold housing and fuel poverty. A mixed methods action research study
Justice, fuel poverty and disabled people in England
Emotions and fuel poverty
Fuel poverty from the bottom-up
From rational to relational
Energy poverty and social relations
Advancing an energy justice perspective of fuel poverty
A global perspective on domestic energy deprivation
Diverse faces of inclusive research
Normalisation, Emancipatory Research and Inclusive Research in Learning Disability
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |