Advisory groups first meeting for DBI and People First project

The learning disability project involves researchers from the Donald Beasley Institute working with People First New Zealand | Ngā Tāngata Tuatahi.  The research is about supporting people with a learning disability to manage and make their own decisions about their health and wellbeing. 

Recently the project team met with our newly-appointed advisory group for a one and a half day hui in Ōtepoti Dunedin.  The advisory group, who are all members of People First, travelled from all over New Zealand to get to the meeting.  They had a lovely surprise when they arrived – the taxi company had run out of vans, so they supplied a limo instead!  It was a fun way to get to know each other.

What did we talk about at the hui?

In the hui we talked about these things:

●      What it means to be on an advisory group

●      Our values

●      Why we are doing the research and what is involved

●      What helps people with learning disability to manage and make decisions about their health and wellbeing

●      What wellbeing means to people with a learning disability

●      The government’s Provisional Strategy for the Health of Disabled People, and how it relates to our research.

The advisory group shared really important information with the research team.  The advisory group were clear that many things can stop people from having good health and wellbeing.  For example,

●      If your living situation is not good

●      If you don’t get to make your own decisions

●      If you don’t get information explained in a way you can understand

●      If health professionals don’t know how to communicate with people with learning disability.

The advisory group told us how important it is for people with learning disability to make their own decisions about their health and wellbeing.  To do this, they want the right support – this could be different for everyone.  

We are going to use this information to help us develop our research question, and to plan the next part of the research.  We are looking forward to meeting the advisory group on-line for our next meeting in about a month’s time.