Getting Things Changed was a 3 year research programme funded by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) The project started in April 2015 and finished in May 2018.
The research
• ‘Getting Things Changed’ was a large programme of research in Disability Studies. It was led by a team at the University of Bristol, with Disability Rights UK, the National Development Team for Inclusion and partners in 3 other universities.
• The research was fuelled by concerns that policy and law do not always translate into practice. The research demonstrated that disabling barriers have not been fully overcome by the Equality Act 2010, for instance in public institutions such as hospitals or universities.
The the research looked at lots of different things, including interactions with a personal
assistant, groups for people with dementia, music education in special schools, TV and media, hospital care, parenting support for parents with ‘learning difficulties’ and co-commissioning.
203 practitioners and 245 disabled people took part in the research, with impairments ranging from physical, sensory, mental health issues, autism, learning disabilities and dementia, and many multiple or complex impairments.
The research was co-produced with disabled people and their organisations. Half of the core project team identified as disabled people, and drew on their lived experience in the research. Additionally, 18 disabled people took part in three co-research groups across the project.
You can read the easy-read summary of the report here
You can read the plain text summary of the report here
You can read more about the research project here