Commentary on: the informal culture of a direct care staff team supporting people with intellectual disabilities who present with behaviours that challenge

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Beadle-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Severity Of Disability ◽  
People With Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on Banks et al., and sets the wider context. Design/methodology/approach It provides a brief narrative review of the literature on the factors that determine the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities, including the impact of culture. Findings Key to ensuring good quality of life outcomes is support that is facilitative, enabling and empowering which can compensate for severity of disability and improve people’s experiences. This approach is called Active Support. Improving quality of life is a key part of preventing and responding to behaviours that challenge. Culture is an important factor in ensuring staff are motivated to work in such ways but is likely to be intertwined with many other factors. Originality/value This paper summarises the key literature on what is needed to improve outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities. It introduces the importance of exploring how the different dimensions of culture interact and how culture, practice, processes and structures might work in a much more complex and intertwined fashion than previously conceptualised.

Can active support improve job satisfaction?

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A Rhodes ◽  
Sandy Toogood
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Direct Care Staff ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Repeated Measures Design ◽  
Before And After ◽  
People With Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – Active support (AS) influences the way staff support people with intellectual disabilities to take part in everyday activities. Changes in work practices may affect job satisfaction. The impact of AS on job satisfaction has not, however, been widely studied. Job satisfaction is linked with levels of staff turnover and the overall quality of services provided to people with intellectual disabilities (Coomber & Barriball, 2007; Hatton et al., 2001). The purpose of this paper is to describe an evaluation of job satisfaction amongst 38 direct care staff working in intellectual disability services before and after AS was implemented. Design/methodology/approach – A single group, repeated-measures design was used. In total, 38 members of direct care staff received AS training. Data on job satisfaction were collected before, and after, AS was implemented. In total, 19 members of staff took part in a follow-up 12 weeks later. Findings – There was a significant increase in reported job satisfaction following the implementation of AS. Subscale analysis revealed that the most significant increases in job satisfaction were related to areas directly targeted by AS, including satisfaction with skill level and satisfaction with amount of time spent with service users. Originality/value – Implementing AS may provide an added benefit for direct care staff, who feel more satisfied at work. While a significant number of papers have been published focusing on the benefits of AS, no papers have specifically looked at the impact that the intervention can have on job satisfaction.

Commentary on “The effectiveness of psychodynamic interventions for people with learning disabilities: a systematic review”

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-28
Author(s):  
Hilary Brown
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Direct Care Staff ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People With Intellectual Disabilities

Purpose – This paper is a commentary on “The effectiveness of psychodynamic interventions for people with learning disabilities: a systematic review” by Chris James and James Stacey. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the thesis that standardised ways of evaluating health care interventions may have the inadvertent effect of undermining the case that people with intellectual disabilities should be offered the same opportunities to address their emotional and mental health difficulties as other citizens. Design/methodology/approach – The commentary argues that while the evidence base focuses on the outcomes of orthodox one-to-one interventions, sometimes broader “contextual reformulation” and systemic interventions are called for. However, family- or service-based interventions tend not to feature in studies. Findings – The commentary illustrates these issues by discussing two case studies, which demonstrate how relational issues tend to be unhelpfully focused on the person with intellectual disabilities to the detriment of family members or direct care staff, who may be struggling to make sense of the person's behaviour or distress. Originality/value – The commentary supports the argument put forward in the longer paper and also argues for mental health services to be offered on a non-discriminatory basis to people with intellectual disabilities and to their family members. But it also suggests that one of the additional impacts of service level psychotherapeutic interventions is to re-establish respect for the work of direct care staff whose work is often presented as if it is little more than domestic drudgery when in fact it involves negotiating and responding to people and their issues with great sensitivity and balance.

Does supported living work for people with severe intellectual disabilities?

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 338-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Marlow ◽  
Nina Walker
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Model Of Care ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supported Living ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
Severe Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at whether a move to a supported living model of care from traditional residential group homes could improve the quality of life for those with a severe intellectual disability and other challenging needs. Design/methodology/approach – Six men with severe intellectual disabilities moved from two residential homes into new-build individual flats. Their quality of life was measured using a battery of assessments looking at; environment, relationships, community participation, interactions, mood interest and pleasure, activities, physical health and challenging behaviour. These measures were taken before the move, immediately after and six months after the move. The views of staff and family carers were also assessed at each stage. Findings – The move had a positive effect on the tenants in that it caused an improvement in their mood and a decrease in their challenging behaviours. Further improvements could be made in the tenant’s quality of life by introducing more activities. The initial concerns of family members about the move decreased over time. However staff found the changes to their working practices stressful. Research limitations/implications – The study was a small scale one because of the small number of tenants. The tenants were unable to express their own views because of their limited communication abilities so a combination of direct observation and indirect measures were used. Practical implications – In the light of the Winterbourne view report by Stephen Bubb this study looks at the impact on quality of life of a move to supported living for a group of people with complex and challenging needs who might otherwise be placed in an out of borough placement similar to Winterbourne view. Social implications – The study also looks at the impact of such a move on the family members of the individuals and on the staff who had to change their working practices to adapt to both a new working environment and model of care. Originality/value – This study also looks at the impact of a model of supported living for people with severe intellectual disabilities and complex needs rather than those with mild intellectual disabilities. This is particularly important in the post Winterbourne view climate when the authors need to look carefully at positive alternative models of care for these individuals.

A systematic review of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with people with intellectual disabilities: an unsafe gap in the literature

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Crompton ◽  
Bethany Duncan ◽  
Graham Simpson-Adkins
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
World Health ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
People With Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to systematically review the available evidence that explores adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in people with intellectual disabilities (PwID). It is important to systematically review this literature as, to date, there is little known about the number of studies in this area, despite the World Health Organization declaring ACE prevention and support as a global public health priority. Design/methodology/approach Published studies were identified from electronic database searches. Key journals and reference lists were also hand searched. Findings Two studies met the inclusion criteria and the prevalence and frequency of ACEs experienced by participants of these studies analysed. Overall, due to the small number of studies meeting the inclusion criteria, it is difficult to establish any meaningful conclusions. Originality/value This appears to be the first systematic review to try and identify a research base looking at the prevalence of ACEs within a PwID population. Findings suggest that this is a highly neglected area of research, and the authors hope to have identified that further evidence is required to draw clearer conclusions about the impact of ACEs on PwID.

On the Use of Speech Technologies to Achieve Inclusive Education for People with Intellectual Disabilities

2013 ◽  
pp. 163-174
Author(s):  
Ana Pérez Pérez ◽  
Zoraida Callejas Carrión ◽  
Ramón López-Cózar Delgado ◽  
David Griol Barres
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
The Social ◽  
Educational Integration ◽  
People With Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Speech And Language Disorders

New technologies have demonstrated a great potential to improve the social, labour, and educational integration of people with special needs. That is why there is a special interest of academia and industry to develop tools to assist this people, improving their autonomy and quality of life. Usually, intellectual disabilities are linked with speech and language disorders. In this chapter, the authors present a review on the efforts directed towards designing and developing speech technologies adapted to people with intellectual disabilities. Also, they describe the work they have conducted to study how to gather speech resources, which can be used to build speech-based systems that help them to communicate more effectively.

Impact of AI regulation on intention to use robots

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-114
Author(s):  
Sheshadri Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Control Beliefs ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors influencing the citizens to use robots that would improve the quality of life of the citizens. Design/methodology/approach With the help of different adoption theories and models and with the support of background studies, some hypotheses have been formulated and a conceptual model has been developed with the consideration of the impact of artificial intelligence regulation (IAR) that controls the use of robots as a moderator. The model has been validated and the hypotheses have been tested by statistical analysis with the help of survey works involving consideration of feedbacks from 503 usable respondents. Findings The study reveals that the use of robots by the citizens would appreciably increase if government imposes strict artificial intelligence (AI) regulatory control concerning the use of robots, and in that case, it appears that the use of robots would improve the quality of life of the citizens. Research limitations/implications The duly validated model would help the authority to appropriately nurse and nurture the factors such as ethical dilemma, perceived risks and control beliefs for enhancing the intention of the citizens to use robots for many purposes including domestic usage in the context of appropriate restrictions imposed through AI regulation. Such use of robots would eventually improve the quality of life. Originality/value There are a few studies covering analysis of IAR as a moderator on the linkages of the predictors with the intention of the citizens to use robots. In this context, this study is claimed to have offered a novel contribution.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document