12 | P a g e
Title of Study
A Study of Adult Protection Procedures:
Threshold Screening of New Referrals by
Designated Adult Safeguarding
Practitioners
Abstract
Context
The perception and role of adult safeguarding has changed over the past
twenty-five years. In Northern Ireland there exists a regional policy and
individual Health and Social Care Trusts have developed their own procedures
and guides for practitioners however, there is no discrete legislative mandate
(Montgomery and McKee, 2017). In more recent years there has been a move
away from viewing adults in terms of their vulnerability to a more inclusive
approach that takes account of the needs, views and wishes of the adult at risk
of harm (Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety, 2015).
Headlines in the media have brought increased attention to, and scrutiny of, the
role of adult safeguarding, particularly in relation to events that have taken place
in institutional care settings and in the past ten years, there have been a number
of reviews examining learning from the events of institutional abuse.
A wealth of information exists on the topic of adult abuse and mistreatment and
the impact of training and learning on the effectiveness of practitioner's ability to
recognise and respond to adult abuse referrals. This study set out to examine
adult safeguarding practitioner's application of knowledge, skills, and values to
their role, specifically at the point of receiving a referral regarding alleged abuse.
The study also included a range of questions to evaluate the adult safeguarding
process.
Methodology and Methods
This was a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. The researcher
developed an interview schedule that included vignettes. Participants from a
forum of safeguarding practitioners were invited to volunteer, creating a
purposive sample with the minimum of selection bias. The interviews were audio
recorded and transcribed for coding. Software designed to assist the coding