Abstract

Social workers and allied professionals will find this book to be a valuable tool, highlighting ways of improving the cultural sensitivity of disability services and parental and family support. Combining a wide-ranging survey and in-depth interviews, the authors build a rich picture of the lives of South Asian families with a child with severe disabilities and place their experiences in the wider context of how culture and ethnicity can impact on a family's experience of disability.

The authors offer clear ideas for practical improvements in:

* awareness and mobilisation of formal support services

* parental and extended family acceptance of the child's disability

* availability of support groups and other informal support

* parents' physical and mental health

* the child and family's social life

linking their findings to recent policy initiatives to improve the information and support offered to all carers.

Policy makers, academics and practitioners in health, social work and education will find the authors give an invaluable insight into the cultural, religious and language needs of ethnic minority families coping with disability.

Chris Hatton is Research Director and Professor of Psychology, Health and Social Care at the Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University. Yasmeen Akram was a research associate at the Hester Adrian Research Centre, University of Manchester and is now training as a clinical psychologist. Robina Shah is an expert advisor on ethnicity to the Valuing People Support Team. Janet Robertson is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Health Research. Eric Emerson is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Institute for Health Research and a member of the Department of Health's National Task Force on Learning Disabilities.
This is an interesting and important addition to an already charted field of research, made so predominantly by the extensive representation of the views and experiences of the parents involved.
Children and Society
This book is a tool for social work practitioners, allied professionals and policy makers to set standards of culturally sensitive practice in disability services.
British Journal of Social Work
Any professional or organisation whose work, through practice or policy, is related to this particular area should find this book helpful. A good foundation from which to build social health care policies and practices for South Asian families with children with severe disabilities. What makes this study particularly unique, and hence valuable, is the participatory approach in the research design through the inclusion of the family members, who are also service users.
Child and Family Social Work