CUADRO DE DESCOMPUESTOS
TOTAL PARTIDA 0,27 D4.34 m2 Pavi aglomerado asf frio D 12, 5cm
4.3.1. The care farms
According to Care Farming UK (2017) there are approximately 250 care farms currently in operation in the UK. For this study, three care farm organisations delivering services to people with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum condition were recruited to participate in
67 the research. Three care farms were selected, as this was deemed a sufficient number of sites, through which to recruit the requisite number of case studies (see section 4.3.2). These settings were selected in particular, with the aim of reflecting the different types of care farms currently in operation in the UK, from commercially orientated or ‘real’ farms (where care farming constitutes an additional source of funding alongside food production) to farms that offer care services as their main or sole activity, delivered though charitable organisations or social enterprises (see table 4.1.) It is also important to note here that selected care farms had all recently recruited new starters to their care farming programme. This was important for the recruitment of ‘case study’ participants, the reasons for which I shall demonstrate in section 4.3.2.
Table 4.1 The care farms
Care Farm A
Location: East of England
Farm Type:
Mixed 7 acre smallholding with areas of woodland, pasture and fruit and vegetable growing areas. Animals include alpacas, goats, chickens, quails and bees.
Staff: Family run business with 2 part time members of staff.
Client Groups: Autism Spectrum Disorder, intellectual Disabilities, Mental Illness
and Dementia Activities offered:
Animal care, fruit and vegetable growing, woodworking and crafts, farm maintenance projects, conservation activities and woodland management.
Funding Sources: Client fees paid by local authorities or social services and self-
generated funds. Care Farm B
Location: South West of England
Farm Type: 100 acre working organic beef farm with areas of high
conservation value. Other animals on the farm include hens, donkeys and pigs.
Staff: 4 full time permanent members of staff with experience of
working on a farm and/or supporting people with Autism.
Client Groups: Autism Spectrum Condition
Activities offered:
Animal care, planting, wetland and woodland care, personal development with health and safety, woodwork, training for work, cooking and leisure and recreation in the countryside.
Funding Sources: Client fees paid by local authorities or social services; charitable
donations; central government; commercial food production. Care Farm C
Location: South West of England
Farm Type: 80 acre organic commercial farm rearing free-range chickens,
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Staff: 6 permanent, part time members of staff with farming, teaching
and/or care work experience.
Client groups: Autism Spectrum Condition and people with intellectual
disabilities Activities offered:
Animal care, horticulture and vegetable growing, educational courses and work based training, cooking, leisure and recreation activities.
Funding sources: Client fees paid by local authorities or social services; charitable trusts/donations; central government; commercial food production.
4.3.2. Participants
The study adopted an in-depth and intensive ‘case study’ approach where individuals were viewed as the case studies.
Case study participants were selected on the basis that they had recently been enrolled on a care farming programme and were identified as having an intellectual disability and/or developmental disability (seven participants were recruited in total. See Table 4.2). In selecting new starters, it was hoped that this particular sampling strategy would enable me to track the progress of case study participants during their first year on a care farming programme and to gather subjective data on participants’ experiences of care farming and the wider impact of these kinds of activities. Whilst it was hoped it would be possible to recruit participants reflecting a range of socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. age, gender and ethnicity) the predominant users of the care farms that I visited were White British men of college or school leaving age (i.e. 18-24). This is broadly reflective of my participant sample (see table. 4.2).
The study also recruited additional individuals that made up case study participants’ wider networks of professional and personal relationships. This included staff based at the care farms that participants attended as well as family members and/or paid carers with primary responsibility for supporting case study participants (usually three additional participants were recruited per case study, thirteen additional participants in total. See Table 4.2.). In doing so it was intended that this study would gain a more holistic and comprehensive picture of case study participants’ life worlds. What is more, by including sector professionals in the research, this study also sought to gain a deeper understanding of the views and experiences
69 of those directly involved in delivering care farming initiatives, and whether these kinds of initiatives are perceived by them to produce positive outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities.
Permission to contact potential case study participants was sought through the care farm settings included in this study, after which initial meetings were set up with prospective participants (accompanied by a family member/carer where requested) either at the care farm setting which they attended or at another location of their choosing. Potential participants were offered the choice to decide whether to take part in the study at the time of the initial meeting, or to take more time to decide. In circumstances where an individual chose to wait to take time to think over the decision about participating, I provided them with a copy of the project information sheet explaining the research (produced in an accessible format where requested, see appendix 2) to take away and review before making their decision. I then arranged to meet with potential participants after a minimum of seven days to discuss the study and answer any further questions. When an individual did decide to take part in the research they were then asked to sign a written consent form, produced in an accessible format (see appendix 3). Upon gaining informed written consent from case study participants, I then sought to obtain consent from additional participants associated with each case study individual (i.e. parents/carers and care farm staff) following a similar procedure.
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Table 4.2 Study participants
Case Study 1. Jack
Name Age Gender Participant type Additional Information
Jack 37 Male Case Study
Jack has the label ‘Asperger’s syndrome’ and ‘learning disability’. Until recently he lived at home with his mother and father in a semi-detached house in the urban fringes of a small city in the South East of England. Jack started attending care farm A in the summer of 2014 following a referral by his social worker. Jack loves gardening and playing computer games. Jack describes himself as someone who suffers from low self- esteem and often finds social situations challenging.
Wendy 59 Female Parent
Wendy lives with her husband and her son Jack. Wendy does not work but cares for her husband at home, who has persistent health problems. Wendy has another grown up daughter who lives locally and is the grandmother of three young children.
Lisa 45 Female Farm Staff Lisa and Liam are a married couple who jointly manage care farm A. Lisa is a solicitor
and Liam works in the public sector. Both work part-time in addition to running a small care farming enterprise. Whilst neither has a farming background they have previously worked with children with special educational needs.
Liam 54 Male Farm Staff
Case Study 2. Simon
Name Age Gender Participant Type Additional information.
Simon 23 Male Case Study
Simon has the label ‘learning disability’. He lives with his mother and brother in a terraced house on a housing estate in a small city, in the south east of England. Simon first started attending care farm A in the summer of 2014, and was their first client. Simon is a very sociable and friendly individual. He enjoys meeting new people and is very confident in his dealings with others. Simon sometimes finds it difficult to make other people understand him in conversation and needs help to perform everyday tasks. He loves dancing, animals, computer games and playing darts.
Cassandra 63 Female Parent Cassandra is a single parent of three. She lives with two of her sons (including Simon)
and their two dogs. Cassandra works part-time in retail.
71 Liam
Case Study 3. James
Name Age Gender Participant Type Additional information
James 23 Male Case Study
James has the label ‘learning disability’ and ‘person with autism spectrum disorder’. He lives at home with his mother in a terraced house in a small city in the South East of England. James started attending care farm A in September 2014, following a referral by his social worker. James is a self-proclaimed film buff and loves going to the cinema. James can sometimes become very anxious and finds it difficult to spend time in crowded or noisy places. He is very close to his mum and spends a lot of time at home with her and does not tend to socialise with many other people other than family and close family friends.
Tilly 58 Female Parent
Tilly is a single parent and has no other children. She is currently unemployed and looks after her adult son full time. Tilly and James are not originally from the area, but moved there only a few years previously to be nearer to Tilly’s sister and her family
Lisa
* see above Liam
Case Study 4. Eliot
Name Age Gender Participant Type Additional Information
Eliot 21 Male Case Study
Eliot has the label ‘developmental disability’ and ‘person with autism spectrum disorder’. Eliot lives in a detached house in a semi-rural area of the South East of England with his mum, dad and sister. Eliot is highly sensitive to his surrounding sensory environment. He has a tendency to find new situations or unexpected events highly stressful and is prone to acute bouts of anxiety. Eliot is a talented cook and has a fantastic memory for dates. He loves to collect cutlery and walking in the countryside.
Sally 56 Female Parent
Sally lives with her husband and two of her children (including Eliot). Her other daughter lives on the same street with her husband and 2 children. Sally works as an administrator at a local school 4 days per week, and spends the other days at home caring for Eliot.
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Linda 54 Female Farm Staff
Linda is the farm manager at care farm B. The farm is a family owned business and Linda has lived on the farm most of her life. Linda is a teacher by background and worked with students with autism for many years. Linda became interested in care farming around 15 years ago when she observed the benefits that some of her students received by coming to the farm and spending time with the animals. Since then, Linda has been devoted to developing a centre for young people with ASD on the farm and is a passionate advocate of the benefits of care farming.
Sarah 60 Female Farm Staff
Sarah’s primary role at care farm B is to support users to engage in farm-based activities. Like Linda, Sarah has a teaching background and recently retired from her role, as head of a special education needs school for young people with autism. Sarah knows Eliot and Jed (see case study 5) well as they were students at her school for a number of years and she works closely with them.
Case study 5. Jed
Name Age Gender Participant Type Additional Information
Jed 21 Male Case Study
Jed has the label ‘developmental disability’ and ‘person with autism spectrum disorder’. Jed started attending care farm B in September 2014, upon leaving school. Jed finds verbal communication challenging and prefers to write his thoughts and feelings down on paper. Jed finds many social interactions difficult, although he loves working with animals and is very good at woodwork.
Carol 53 Female Parent
Carol lives with her husband and two children (including Jed) in a semi-detached house on the outskirts of a small city in the South East of England. Carol’s daughter (Jed’s sister) also has ASD and Carol has spent many years actively campaigning to improve services for people with ASD. Carol is self-employed and works full time.
Linda
* see above Sarah
Case Study 6. Neil
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Neil 23 Male Case Study
Neil has the label ‘moderate learning disability’ and currently lives with his mother and sister on a housing estate on the outskirts of a city in the South East of England. Neil started attended care farm C in the summer of 2014, and was referred by his social worker. Neil suffers from very low self-esteem and has a history of depression, drug use and self-harming behaviour. Neil loves films and playing computer games and spends a lot of time at home with his mum and his sister.
Janice 57 Female Parent Janice is a single parent of 2 children (including Neil). Janice has a physical impairment
that limits her mobility and is not in employment.
Sian 38 Female Farm Staff
Sian is programme director for care farm C. Prior to this, she worked in community development and for an international NGO. Sarah volunteered at care farm C for several years before securing her current role and works 4 days a week at the farm.
Sandra 50 Female Farm Staff
Sandra grew up on a farm where she developed an interest in conservation and sustainable agriculture. Sandra has a degree in biological sciences and has worked on various outreach programmes designed to engage local communities with the natural environment. Sandra works closely with Neil and Robert (see case study 7), particularly in the egg room.
Case Study 7. Robert
Name Age Gender Participant Type Additional Information
Robert 46 Male Case Study
Robert has the label ‘learning disability’. He currently lives in a residential care home for adult males with a learning disability in the south east of England. Robert is a capable individual who is able to perform daily activities with relatively little support. Robert enjoys the company of other people, doing things like going out for dinner or to the pub, however he has experienced some difficulties in getting on with some of the other residents at the residential home where he lives.
Matthew 55 Male Carer
Matthew is a qualified support worker and is employed by the residential care home where Robert lives. Matthew has known Robert for several years and has worked with him very closely during that time. He has attended care farm C to support Robert on numerous occasions.
Sian
*see above Sandra
74 For the purposes of clarity, in this thesis I shall generally refer to case study participants (i.e. those individuals who use care farming services) simply as the ‘participants’. The other people who took part in this study are referred to as ‘parent’, ‘carer’ or ‘staff member’ accordingly. For this study, pseudonyms are used in place of participants’ real names in order to ensure participant anonymity
4.4. Study design and execution
To recap on the objectives of the research, it was my aim in this study to examine the therapeutic landscape experiences of people with intellectual disabilities engaged in care farming activities.
In order to achieve the aims of the research, data were collated longitudinally over a period of 10 months in order to ascertain the wider impact that care farming had on participants’ everyday lives, over a sustained period of time. A period of 10 months was selected, as this was deemed a sufficient amount of time to gather longitudinal data on participants’ progress, but not so long that participants were likely to forget about the study, lose interest in participating or cease attending a care farm (evidence suggests that the majority of service users normally attend a care farm for at least 1 year upon enrolling (Care Farming UK, 2016). The fieldwork phase of this study comprised of two rounds of data collection. The first took place from July 2014 to October 2014, followed by a repeat round approximately 6 months later, from January to April 2015 (see Table 4.3). This particular research strategy was designed to track participants’ progress during their first year on a care farming programme and to gather subjective data on participants’ experiences of care farming and any wider impacts of these kinds of activities. To this end, a range of ethnographic methods of data collection was used for each case study (see Figure 4.1).
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Figure 4.1 The case study design
The table below sets out the overall project timeline, followed by a more detailed overview of each fieldwork phase of the study.