Julia Harries

Room 111g, Hughes Building Phone +61 (08) 8303 0479 Fax +61 (08) 8303 3770 julia.harries@adelaide.edu.au

Area of Research

Disability.

Psychology Research Interests

The Disability Research Unit (DRU) at the University of Adelaide has been involved in collaborative research with the South Australian Department for Families and Communities (DFC) to address the issue of support need measurement. Research undertaken has included an analysis of the reliability and validity of a support needs instrument called the Service Need Assessment Profile (SNAP), in addition to addressing the broader aim of understanding the theoretical structure of support needs and determining methods for measuring this construct.

In June 2004 the Disabilities Research Unit were successful in obtaining funding from the DFC and the Australian Research Council to develop an assessment system that aims to address the critical deficiencies that limit the usefulness of existing instruments for the assessment of support needs and which can be used to guide the allocation of funds and training/support resources across different disability types and levels of severity. This approach will be evaluated against a number of widely accepted criteria that have emerged from previous research.

Research Project

Support Need Assessment: A model for understanding the needs of individuals with disabilities for the allocation of support resources. The aim of this research is to develop a model for understanding and determining the support needs of individuals with disabilities. Available literature shows that the concept of support needs is not well understood and that a process for measuring support needs is yet to be widely accepted. It is envisaged that an accepted model for understanding and measuring support needs could be used as the rational basis for allocating resource funds to support individuals with disabilities. Such a system of funding supports would have significant benefits for individuals with disabilities, service providers, and funding bodies.

Recent Key Publications

Harries, J., Guscia, R., Kirby, N., Nettelbeck, T., & Taplin, J. (2005). Support needs and adaptive behaviour. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 110, 393-404.

Guscia, R., Harries, J., Kirby, N., Nettelbeck, T., & Taplin, J. (2005). Reliability of the Service Need Assessment Profile (SNAP): A measure of support for people with disabilities. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 30, 24-30.

Kirby, N., Harries, J., Guscia, R. (2005). Support needs assessment: Measures and critical issues. Intellectual Disability Australasia, vol 26, 2, pp 3-5.

Kirby, N., & Harries, J. (2004) Support needs and adaptive behaviour. Paper presented at the 39 th Annual Australian Psychological Society Conference, Sep/Oct, Sydney, NSW.

Kirby, N., & Harries, J. (2004) Support needs assessment: Measures and critical issues. Paper presented at the 39 th Annual Australasian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability Conference. Nov 9, Adelaide, South Australia.