The Transitions That Matter, 2023-2024

The research questions were:
(i) How do working-age disabled people and their carers/care workers experience and conceptualise care-related transitions?
(ii) How do the transitions influence their care relations and vice versa?
Theoretical framework and lens: the Care Convoys model.
Methods: Eight pairs of participants, consisting of a disabled person plus a carer/care worker, were interviewed (sixteen semi-structured interviews), with follow up interviews with the disabled participants after two months (twenty-four interviews in total).
Findings: A thematic analysis was carried out. Three aspects of the care convoy model cast a critical lens on participant experiences: (i) whereas the convoy model suggests progression, disabled people were often blocked in their lifecourse changes; (ii) disabled participants had small convoys even at a relatively young age; (iii) convoys were ‘decentred’, with people offering each other mutual support.