Projects funded as a result of Round 1 of the ALPS Research Capacity Funding Call:

Mobile Enabled Disabled Students: An investigation into the benefits, barriers and essential specifications of mobile devices used for learning and assessment purposes with disabled students

Lead: Dr Christine Dearnley, School of Health Studies, University of Bradford
(c.a.dearnley1@bradford.ac.uk)

This project aimed to inform the ongoing work and development of ALPS in relation to the specific needs of disabled students when using mobile technologies for learning and assessment in practice settings. Specific objectives were:

1. To investigate the range of impairments that affect health and social care students. This can be used to form guidance for “reasonable expectations”.
2. To establish what works well for disabled students who currently use mobile devices and take part in this study
3. To identify the challenges that mobile technologies present to disabled students
4. To trial the use of new assessment methods as they are agreed by the ALPS tools group, among disabled users to assess their impact and identify changes that need to be made for disabled users.
5. To test the accessibility of the learning objects that we can expect from the IT specification and which are currently being developed by York St John & Leeds Met, in addition to any others that may be produced by ALPS, and to propose equivalents where necessary (e.g. transcripts for an audio file or complex visual learning object)

The project has achieved this aim and these objectives and has contributed significantly to the development of the ALPS assessment software in addition to providing an insight into the general use of mobile devices among disabled people.

Final Report

****************************

What matters to US (Users of Services): discovering and applying user and carer perceptions of the requisite skills and attributes of health and social care students to enable shared care and decision making

Lead: Penny Morris, Senior Lecturer, Medical Education Unit, University of Leeds (p.a.morris@leeds.ac.uk)

The aim of the proposed project is to deepen and build on understanding of service user and carer perceptions of the professional attributes and behaviours that will enable them to participate in shared understanding and decision making in health and social care.  A group of service users and carers (the US group)  – who have already been prepared to work with West Yorkshire Universities to help students learn  –  will collaborate with practitioners, students and academic teachers to examine and apply that understanding to the assessment of students in the practice setting.
User and carer involvement in education will be expanded in the project through e-learning as part of a blended learning approach (Priestley et al 2006).  This allows sharing of experiences with a wider audience through the use of re-useable learning materials e.g. podcasts and film clips of experiences.  Participants have final editorial control over the materials that are produced (Priestley & Hellawell 2007) and, in this project, will co-design the assessment framework for their use. More...

Final Report

************************

A study of service user and carer involvement in mental health training, education and research in West Yorkshire.

Lead: Dr Virginia Minogue, Regional Lead for Health and Social Care in Criminal Justice (Virginia.minogue1@nhs.net)

A collaborative study, led by service users and carers, of service user and carer’s involvement in mental health education, training, and research was undertaken. This comprised of a literature review and a scoping study across the three specialist mental health NHS Trusts and four universities in West Yorkshire in 2008. The latter involved a survey of senior managers in all the organisations, interviews and focus groups with service users and carers involved in teaching and research.

The study examined the effectiveness of service user and carer involvement from the service user and carer, professional and policy perspective. It aimed to determine whether it was possible to define and measure effective and meaningful service user and carer involvement. It also sought to discover which processes and strategies were most effective in achieving meaningful involvement.

Final Report

************************