SSCR Annual Conference 2017 An Invisible Workforce: Personal assistants supporting physically disabled people at work 12 April 2017 Jane Maddison Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Unit

Overview • • • • •

Who are we talking about and why? Invisibility: as a workforce Our current project Invisibility: inside the workplace Next steps?

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Who are we talking about? • Who? a paid worker who supports a physically disabled person in their workplace, variously called .. Workplace PA Support Worker

PA

Access Worker

Disability Aide

• Role? the scope of a WPA’s role depends on the person’s needs and so can be: – work-related only – personal care only – work-related and personal care NIHR School for Social Care Research

We need to talk about Workplace PAs because… • without WPA support some people cannot work: I wouldn’t be running the company and would be on the dole watching daytime telly.

If disabled people want sheer equality they must become part of the workforce and [it will need] an army of PAs to achieve that.

• the workplace setting presents unique challenges for personal assistance

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Invisibility: WPAs as a workforce • Straddles the boundary between social care and employment support: – Care Act (2014): • work is seen as part of well-being • a PA role can include support at work …..but? – DWP/DH (2016) Improving Lives: • desire to narrow the ‘disability employment gap’ • Access to Work ……but? • Support organisations • Research NIHR School for Social Care Research

Exploring the role of Workplace PAs for physically disabled people Project Stage One: research Objectives • to explore the context & roles of WPAs who support physically disabled people • to explore the relationships between the WPA and disabled person; and with others in the workplace Methods - interviews with • Workplace PAs • disabled people who have a WPA • line managers of disabled people who have a WPA • representatives from support organisations Project Stage Two: development of ‘guidance’ • to support Workplace PAs, disabled people and their employers NIHR School for Social Care Research

Invisibility: a hidden ‘workplace within a workplace’ “they exist but they don’t exist” • WPA typically not employed by the organisation: no rules; role may be poorly understood • to work effectively, a WPA must be both present and “filtered out” • invisible work is also required by the disabled person: “two jobs in one day”

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Particular invisibility of the WPA? Compared with a ‘social care’ PA role supporting the same disabled woman when she’s not at work: I’ve just known how to be like a silent carer when she’s at work…to take a step back.

Compared with a WPA’s previous employment as an ‘office’ PA:

In the PA role I had before…you were classed as somebody’s second-in-command, so it’s quite disempowering when you’re almost told that you need to sit down, be quiet and not exist.

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Negotiating WPA identity: some key issues • Every WPA role is different: “it’s a unique job” • Disabled people have differing views re WPA identity: [Colleagues] have said to me, who's this person working for you, you've never introduced them; and I’ve said, they're my support worker, I don't need to introduce them.

My PA has a voice.

They are an extension of me but also their own person.

• Negotiating WPA interactions with colleagues: the tricky case of meetings NIHR School for Social Care Research

Next Steps? Who and how? • WPA workforce: supply and demand – raising awareness of the WPA role: • as a career choice: “I sort of fell into it.” • as a support option for disabled people – workforce development • In the workplace: a need for guidance, advice and support: – for disabled people and WPAs – for employing organisations? what is their role? • Access to a central source of support NIHR School for Social Care Research

Disclaimer This presentation reports on independent research funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR SSCR, NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health.

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Contact the research team: Dr Jenni Brooks, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Psychology and Politics, Sheffield Hallam University [email protected] Dr Katie Graham (PI), Lecturer, Department of Social Policy & Social Work, University of York [email protected]

Jane Maddison, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York [email protected]

https://www.york.ac.uk/spru/projects/workplace-pa/ NIHR School for Social Care Research