
Professor David Abbott
LL.B.(Brun.), M.Phil.(Liv.J.Moores), M.Soc.Sc.(Dub.)
Current positions
Professor of Social Policy
School for Policy Studies
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
LGBT Disabled Men & Women and Self Directed Social Care Support’, NIHR School for Social Care Research, with REGARD, Stonewall & SCIE. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/news/2016/lgbtselfdirectedcare.html
Building the Evidence Base for End of Life Decision Making for Men with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Muscular Dystrophy UK. http://www.musculardystrophyuk.org/grants/exploring-the-views-of-men-with-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy-on-end-of-life-care-decision-making/
Recent projects
‘Men Living with Long-term Conditions: Exploring Gender and Improving Social Care’, National Institute for Health Research, School for Social Care Research with Marcus Jepson, Jon Hastie & the Duchenne Family Support Group: http://sscr.nihr.ac.uk/PDF/PO48.pdf
‘Climate Change & Disabled People’, with Sue Porter.
‘End of Life Planning and Young Men with DMD: A Feasibility Study’, (with University of Bristol Hospital Trust).
‘Becoming an adult: transition for young men with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy’. This research was based at the School for Policy Studies and was a collaboration with the Duchenne Family Support Group, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and the Centre for Life at Newcastle University.
'Evaluation of disabled children's access to childcare' (DCATCH) pilot. In partnership with the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Warwick. Funded by the Department for Education.
'Developing methods and frameworks for understanding gender, disability and transition to adult life'. In partnership with Bloorview Research Institute (University of Toronto) and University of Loughborough. Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
'Researching the lives of disabled children and young people, with a focus on their perspectives' - ESRC research seminar series
‘Secret Loves, Hidden Lives: Issues for gay, lesbian and bisexual people with learning difficulties’. This study, carried out with Joyce Howarth and in partnership with the Terrence Higgins Trust and REGARD was funded by the Lottery. Further information is avialble at the on-line documents section of the website.
‘Risk: the role of difference’ was carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Housing Policy (University of York) and was an ESRC study funded. The work looked at how different social groups (including disabled people) think about risks to their financial security (for further details see: http://www.kent.ac.uk/scarr/
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Digital support for older adults in post-Covid futures: A qualitative pilot study to explore older adults' aspirations for their digitally enabled care arrangements
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
Covid-19 has changed the way in which the social care system uses digital technology. Whereas previous practice wisdom has highlighted the difficulty of implementing and scaling digital innovations within social…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/04/2023 to 31/03/2024
COVID-19 and People with Learning Disability
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/09/2020 to 31/08/2021
Older men at the margins: a study of older mens experiences of seeking social engagement and combating loneliness in later life.
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
In collaboration with Age UK, this 2-year project seeks to identify ways of alleviating loneliness and reducing isolation for older men (65+) across marginalised and seldom-heard groups: men living in…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
30/09/2016 to 30/04/2019
Older men at the margins: a study of older mens experiences of seeking social engagement and combating loneliness in later life.
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
In collaboration with Age UK, this 2-year project identified how older men (65+) from hard-to-reach and seldom-heard groups experienced loneliness and social isolation and sought to alleviate this in later…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
30/09/2016 to 30/04/2018
'We're not the Enemy': Exploring the relationships between social care practitioners, service users, community care lawyers and the law.
Principal Investigator
Description
The extent to which social care practitioners and service-users are conscious of the underpinning and directive role of legislation and guidance (e.g. Care Act 2014) in informing adult social care…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/08/2016 to 30/09/2018
Thesis supervisions
The experiences of transition to adulthood for young people with learning disabilities in Korea
Supervisors
Young Adults’ Reflections on Being the Child of a Veteran
Supervisors
Understanding Citizenship and Quality of Life through Disabled Activists in South Korea
Supervisors
Exploring disabled young people's experiences of emerging adulthood using photovoice and other participatory, creative methods.
Supervisors
Bereavement Support for Adults with Learning Disabilities: An Inclusive Participatory Study
Supervisors
Publications
Selected publications
06/06/2014‘Wasting precious time’: young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy negotiate the transition to adulthood
Disability and Society
Who Says What, Where, Why and How? Doing real world research with disabled children and young people
Disabled Children’s Childhood Studies: Critical Approaches in a Global Context
Becoming Men: Gender, Disability, and Transitioning to Adulthood
Health
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink: love, sex and gay men with intellectual disabilities – a helping hand or a human right?
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research
Recent publications
02/09/2024Disabled People Negotiate Gender, Sexual Identity & Self-Directed Social Care Support in England
Critical and Radical Social Work
Fitting comfortably together
Feminism and Psychology
Health and healthcare of people with learning disabilities in the United Kingdom through the COVID-19 pandemic
British Journal of Learning Disabilities
“I wouldn’t change my flat for anything.” Is there Scope for more People with Learning Disabilities to Rent their own Homes?
British Journal of Learning Disabilities
The role of adult social care in supporting people with learning disabilities who rent their own homes in England
Journal of Long Term Care