In safe hands: Empowering young people with disabilities who receive assistance with intimate personal care

Abstract

This article explores the potential for social workers to engage in empowering relationships with young people whose disabilities necessitate that they receive help with certain physical functions, some of which would be termed both personal and intimate. We look firstly at different perspectives within social work on empowerment and what social workers can do to support service users gain more control over their lives. Drawing on the findings of a study by Muldoon (2012), we explore the application of these empowerment concepts into the working relationships that social workers develop with young people who require daily assistance with intimate personal care, and through this exploration we draw attention to the importance of understanding empowerment as a micro-level as well as the more often discussed macro-level action in social work.