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Systematic Narrative Review
An exploration of the factors that
contribute to social workers and other
professionals decision- making in the
adult safeguarding process affecting
adults with disabilities: A Systematic
Narrative Review of the Literature.
Abstract
Context
Adult Safeguarding work encompasses the complicated professional task and
careful balancing act of keep adults safe from harm while ensuring selfdetermination.
While there is an awareness that this balancing act is
happening in practice there is limited research, particularly in the area of
disabled adults, into how this balance is struck, what factors contribute to the
decision-making processes and how key decisions are reached.
This systematic narrative review explored professional decision- making within
the adult safeguarding process. The client group focused on adults with
disabilities who are disproportionately affected by abuse. The professional
role was described as decision- making within adult safeguarding responding
to adult abuse. An examination of the factors that contribute to decisions
being made within the context of adult protection was then undertaken.
This systematic narrative review sought to contribute to the understanding of
how professionals make decisions, including the application of thresholds, and
to identify potential implications for social work practice within adult protection.
Methods
A data base search of
PsycINFO,
Social Services Abstracts; and
Social Care Online.
A number of key inclusion criteria were used to refine the search including a
timeframe of included articles 2005-2021 and peer reviewed articles to ensure
the quality of research sourced. Further articles were sourced through citation
searching. Consequently, twelve articles were then identified and appraised in
a clear and methodical way to effectively answer the humanistic and
discursive nature of the review question.
The structure of the narrative review grew from the frequency and prevalence
of particular issues which were recurring in the final article selection and a