About Carol Tucker
A little bit about me…
I have worked as a physiotherapist within LD services for many years and am really pleased to be part of the study. As physiotherapists we aim to support service users and careers to identify risk, support in the management of that risk, and enable service users to be the best that they can and lead fulfilling lives.
How my experience as a physiotherapist is helping this research…
Having worked within LD services for many years I have been able to support many service users who have fallen or who have been at risk of falling, I am able to bring some of the approaches and ideas that I used within my work to this research but also my experience of communicating with service users who have communication difficulties. I also have contacts within the field of learning disabilities, and physiotherapy to help support recruitment into the study.
Why I am excited about this research…
I feel that this research is exciting and the development of the GTA tool could be really helpful and it is great that such a broad range of groups are involved in this piece of work, helping to shape a piece of work which can be used for the benefit of many service users in the future.
How I think this research will help people with a learning disability and clinicians...
People with learning disabilities have the same healthcare needs and difficulties as the general population, they too could have health issues which mean that they have difficulties with their balance, reduced muscle strength and mobility issues and mean that they are at risk of falling. The aim of the research is to develop the GTA, a tool to help users, carers and healthcare professionals identify areas of concern/risks for individual service users, which could increase the likelihood of them falling. Following the identified actions from the GTA may help address some of these concerns and also help identify follow on referrals in order for the service user/carers to gain further support.
A referral to a physiotherapist service may be one such action. Physiotherapists can help with the prescription of individual structured exercise programmes to help improve balance and muscle strength. Such improvements could lead to improved/maintained physical abilities, helping to reduce the risk of a fall, or reduce the fear of falling and enable continued participation within activities of daily life.
What I have learnt about being involved in research so far…
This is the first research study that I have been involved in so I have a lot to learn and am learning a lot. I have been involved in supporting to write research proposals, and completed my dissertation as part of my MSc but a big learning point for me is how much resilience and commitment is needed to successfully be granted funding for research projects. I never realised there were so many hoops.
One interesting fact about me…
I have recently retired from my physiotherapy team leader post and am enjoying the extra time to go back to some hobbies which had been long forgotten - sewing and piano playing being the present two. Also enjoying the opportunity to be walking Sander, our border collie more and just enjoying time to be at home - which might be considered strange statement considering recent lock downs, but then I was always involved in writing just one more risk assessment…