ABSTRACT
Introduction
Support staff (e.g., support workers) play a key role in the lives of adults with a learning disability in residential settings in England. However, the care relationship between the two seems under-researched with potential care practice implications.
Methods
We conducted online interviews with 23 support staff, exploring their perspectives on care relationships and what makes them positive. We used reflexive thematic analysis and generated four themes, namely The care relationship as a conundrum; Care relationships in a material and ideological reality; The skilled worker; and Relationships matter.
Findings
The care relationship is ‘a strange, grey area’, a conundrum occurring within staff’s and residents’ intertwined realities. The material and ideological conditions surrounding the relationship can facilitate or hinder it. The person expands beyond the resident. Building and restoring relationships requires various skills. The absence of positive relationships can be detrimental.
Conclusions
Praxis is at the core of care relationships as they operate within emotional, practical, and socio-political spheres, directing us towards a care ecology. Staff’s and residents’ (shared) humanity can be used relationally.