The impact of austerity on the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Background: UK austerity policies of the last decade have resulted inreductions to the amount of services, care and support available forpeople with intellectual and developmental disabilities, potentiallyimpacting on their social lives. This study provides empirical evidenceregarding the experiences of managers of services which support peo-ple with intellectual and developmental disabilities.Method: Eight managers of five charitable services and one managerof a government agency in the UK took part in semi-structured inter-views about how cuts in funding had affected them, their services andthe social lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabil-ities. Responses were analysed using Interpretative PhenomenologicalAnalysis.Results: Many managers reported feeling unrelenting, significant andwide-ranging loss, including loss of shared understandings of care andloss of meaningful relationships with funders. Loss of equitable treat-ment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities wasalso identified. Opportunities for social network maintenance anddevelopment were affected.Conclusions: The sense of loss identified in this study across a rangeof areas and the negative impact of poor relationships with funderssuggests that both people with intellectual and developmental disabil-ities and managers experience personal and social loss when services, care and support are cut.