Parents in partnership with practitioners: creating a reality

SHARP is a case study of a collaborative research action programme. There are two
main elements: Parents of disabled children were trained in research skills and
undertook a programme of research activities. The findings from the research were
fed into an action learning set, comprising parents and practitioners, who developed
a service model. The study is based on three seminal research questions formulated
at the outset, and six sub-questions that emerged from the data.
At the outset an 'ideal' model for a service was generated through parents Wishing
on a star1 . A stakeholder event then joined together parents and practitioners in
sharing forces for, and against change, in designing a service. Twenty-four parent
volunteers completed a questionnaire comprising sections on their education and
training, experience, personal situation, confidence, skills and knowledge, along with
their anticipated needs in relation to a parent researcher training programme. Half of
the parents then undertook a research programme of training and activities to
become parent researchers. The other half acted as a comparison group. The
outcomes from the parent researchers' activities were fed into an action learning set
of six parents and six practitioners who recorded their plans and progress, in
developing a service model, at each set meeting.
Eleven parents completed the parent researcher programme. The questionnaire was
repeated. Focus groups and interviews were used to explore the parents' views on
their experiences of participation. The parent researchers gained more in confidence,
skills and experience than did the comparison group. Their aspirations for future
training and participation in voluntary work were extended and they achieved more
positive personal outcomes.Framework analysis of the data was used to formulate twenty-six propositions which
provide the basis for five key constructs of an evolved model of parent participation in
partnership with practitioners. The evolved model proposes a sequence of
involvement, engagement, empowerment and contribution in promoting participation
in partnership.

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