Promoting and supporting friendships with people with disabilities

Abstract

Citizen Advocacy Wellington is a charitable trust which, prior to the cessation of its funding from government in 1999, matched people in one-to-one relationships with people with primarily intellectual disabilities for the purpose of friendship and advocacy. The research assessed what factors supported the continuation of these relationships and what factors posed difficulties. It also looked at the value of citizen advocacy in terms of changes advocate/friends experienced within themselves, changes for people with disabilities and wider changes in the society. In addition, the ideas of past and present advocate/friends with regard to the future of some form of citizen advocacy function in Wellington were canvassed both individually in a group setting. The methods involved a literature review, face-to-face standardized in-depth interviews with past and present advocate/friends, key person interviews; and a focus group. This study examines advocate/friends perceptions of relationships after they had been in existence for on average four years, and up to nine years. A key finding is that initial feelings of altruism are replaced over time by feelings of friendship.