Three Years on From "Stay at Home": Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jodie Rawles; Sue Caton; Dawn Cavanagh; Chris Hatton; Richard P. Hastings; Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities Study Team

doi:10.1111/jar.70076

Three Years on From "Stay at Home": Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jodie Rawles, Sue Caton^*, Dawn Cavanagh, Chris Hatton, Richard P. Hastings, Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities Study Team

^*Corresponding author for this work

Social Policy and Society

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background

People with intellectual disabilities were disproportionately negatively affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there has been limited research about the perceived longer-term impact.

Methods

Data were collected through a two-stage narrative interview process with eight adults with intellectual disabilities. Participants told their story about their lives at the time of the first lockdown in 2020, what their lives were like 3 years later, and what they hoped for the future. A second interview filled any gaps in the narrative. Data were analysed thematically.

Results

Four themes were identified: navigating disruptions to meaningful activities; unique challenges associated with residing in group-living environments; anger at the Government; barriers to moving forward.

Conclusions

The themes identified reflect powerful emotional memories of challenging experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life continues to be difficult for many due to ongoing difficulties in getting the right support.

Original language	English
Article number	e70076
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID
Volume	38
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.70076
Publication status	Published - 7 Jul 2025

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Humans
COVID-19/psychology
Intellectual Disability/psychology
Adult
Male
Female
Middle Aged
Qualitative Research
Aged

Access to Document

10.1111/jar.70076Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

RawlesJ2025ThreeFinal published version, 266 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Cite this

Rawles, J., Caton, S., Cavanagh, D., Hatton, C., Hastings, R. P., & Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities Study Team (2025). Three Years on From "Stay at Home": Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID, 38(4), Article e70076. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.70076

@article{92aa61eb78e54e8e99b29fcba89a96cd,

title = "Three Years on From {"}Stay at Home{"}: Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic",

abstract = "BackgroundPeople with intellectual disabilities were disproportionately negatively affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there has been limited research about the perceived longer-term impact.MethodsData were collected through a two-stage narrative interview process with eight adults with intellectual disabilities. Participants told their story about their lives at the time of the first lockdown in 2020, what their lives were like 3 years later, and what they hoped for the future. A second interview filled any gaps in the narrative. Data were analysed thematically.ResultsFour themes were identified: navigating disruptions to meaningful activities; unique challenges associated with residing in group-living environments; anger at the Government; barriers to moving forward.ConclusionsThe themes identified reflect powerful emotional memories of challenging experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life continues to be difficult for many due to ongoing difficulties in getting the right support.",

keywords = "Humans, COVID-19/psychology, Intellectual Disability/psychology, Adult, Male, Female, Middle Aged, Qualitative Research, Aged",

author = "Jodie Rawles and Sue Caton and Dawn Cavanagh and Chris Hatton and Hastings, \{Richard P.\} and \{Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities Study Team\} and Jill Bradshaw",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd.",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1111/jar.70076",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

journal = "Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID",

issn = "1360-2322",

publisher = "Wiley",

number = "4",

}

Rawles, J, Caton, S, Cavanagh, D, Hatton, C, Hastings, RP & Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities Study Team 2025, 'Three Years on From "Stay at Home": Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic', Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID, vol. 38, no. 4, e70076. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.70076

TY - JOUR

T1 - Three Years on From "Stay at Home"

T2 - Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

AU - Rawles, Jodie

AU - Caton, Sue

AU - Cavanagh, Dawn

AU - Hatton, Chris

AU - Hastings, Richard P.

AU - Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities Study Team

AU - Bradshaw, Jill

PY - 2025/7/7

Y1 - 2025/7/7

N2 - BackgroundPeople with intellectual disabilities were disproportionately negatively affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there has been limited research about the perceived longer-term impact.MethodsData were collected through a two-stage narrative interview process with eight adults with intellectual disabilities. Participants told their story about their lives at the time of the first lockdown in 2020, what their lives were like 3 years later, and what they hoped for the future. A second interview filled any gaps in the narrative. Data were analysed thematically.ResultsFour themes were identified: navigating disruptions to meaningful activities; unique challenges associated with residing in group-living environments; anger at the Government; barriers to moving forward.ConclusionsThe themes identified reflect powerful emotional memories of challenging experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life continues to be difficult for many due to ongoing difficulties in getting the right support.

AB - BackgroundPeople with intellectual disabilities were disproportionately negatively affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there has been limited research about the perceived longer-term impact.MethodsData were collected through a two-stage narrative interview process with eight adults with intellectual disabilities. Participants told their story about their lives at the time of the first lockdown in 2020, what their lives were like 3 years later, and what they hoped for the future. A second interview filled any gaps in the narrative. Data were analysed thematically.ResultsFour themes were identified: navigating disruptions to meaningful activities; unique challenges associated with residing in group-living environments; anger at the Government; barriers to moving forward.ConclusionsThe themes identified reflect powerful emotional memories of challenging experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life continues to be difficult for many due to ongoing difficulties in getting the right support.

KW - Humans

KW - COVID-19/psychology

KW - Intellectual Disability/psychology

KW - Adult

KW - Male

KW - Female

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Qualitative Research

KW - Aged

U2 - 10.1111/jar.70076

DO - 10.1111/jar.70076

M3 - Article

C2 - 40624822

SN - 1360-2322

VL - 38

JO - Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID

JF - Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID

IS - 4

M1 - e70076

ER -

Rawles J, Caton S, Cavanagh D, Hatton C, Hastings RP, Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities Study Team. Three Years on From "Stay at Home": Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID. 2025 Jul 7;38(4):e70076. doi: 10.1111/jar.70076

Three Years on From "Stay at Home": Perspectives of People With Intellectual Disabilities About the Ongoing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this