An Exploratory Study of the Support Needs in 24/7 Online Support for People With Mild Intellectual Disabilities

'It really is quite a different ballgame'. A qualitative study into the work experiences of remote support professionals

BACKGROUND

Professional support for people with intellectual disabilities is increasingly provided remotely. This study explores what support staff of the Dutch remote support service DigiContact experience as distinctive aspects of their job as a remote support professional.

METHOD

Semi-structured interviews were held with 10 DigiContact support workers. The transcripts were analysed through a qualitative content analysis process.

RESULTS

Six themes were identified that reflect distinct aspects of the participants' work within the DigiContact remote support context: being encouraged to adopt a solution-oriented coaching support style; being limited in one's support options; facing considerable diversity; providing support as one team; dealing with unpredictability; and navigating the dynamic within work shifts.

CONCLUSIONS

The way support is organised and delivered can have substantial implications for support professionals. Working at a service like DigiContact seems to call for specific skills, knowledge, affinities and experience, and for appropriate support and facilitation from organisations.

A Closer Look at the Quest for an Inclusive Research Project: ‘I Had No Experience with Scientific Research, and then the Ball of Cooperation Started Rolling’

The original adage of the movement of people with disabilities ‘Nothing about us without us’ is fortunately more and more adopted in the research world. There is, for example, increasing recognition of the importance and value of actively involving people with intellectual disabilities in research projects on topics that are relevant to them. In a current doctoral research project, a co-researcher with an intellectual disability was recruited to work together with the doctoral researcher. Now that this project is nearing completion, it is time to look at some aspects of their collaboration and see what we can learn from this process. In several (joint) meetings, the researchers reflected on their personal experiences with working and researching together. Our reflections are presented using three overarching themes: preparations for the collaboration, collaborating as a complex process, and conducting research together. The discussion focuses on what can be inferred from these personal experiences with regard to the following three topics: how inclusive research can be organised best, the possible benefits of the collaboration for the researchers involved, and the possible impact of the collaboration on the quality of the research.

Experiences of therapists conducting psychological assessments and video conferencing therapy sessions with people with mild intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background. Due to the restrictive measures introduced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists working with people with mild intellectual disabilities have had to use video conferencing to continue to conduct their psychological assessments and therapy sessions. This qualitative study explored therapists' experiences of using video conferencing during the initial lockdown period in the Netherlands. Method. In total, seven therapists working at a service organisation supporting people with intellectual disabilities participated in this qualitative study (M = 34.4 years; SD = 6.0, range: 26-42). The therapists documented their experiences via audio recordings, which were subsequently analysed using thematic analysis. Results. Five themes emerged: 1) An immediate transition to virtual working; 2) Developing virtual ways to support service users in both coping with COVID-19 related stress and with continuing therapy; 3) Lacking the appropriate equipment; 4) Limitations in virtually attuning to people with mild intellectual disabilities; and 5) Unforeseen opportunities for distance-based psychological assessments and therapy. Conclusions. This study provides valuable insights into the experiences of therapists using video conferencing to support people with mild intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights can help inform clinical practice with respect to the use of video conferencing for psychological assessment and therapy with people with mild intellectual disabilities.

The use of online support by people with intellectual disabilities living independently during COVID-19

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 outbreak, service providers in the Netherlands had to switch towards providing remote support for people with intellectual disabilities living independently. This study aims to provide insight into the use of online support during the outbreak.

METHODS

We analysed quantitative data on planned and unplanned contacts between the online support service DigiContact and its service users.

RESULTS

The results indicate that the COVID-19 outbreak and the related containment measures had a strong impact on online support use, specifically on the unplanned use of online support.

CONCLUSION

Offering online support as a standard component of services for independently living people with intellectual disability enables service providers to be flexible and responsive towards fluctuations in both support needs and onsite support availability during a social crisis such as COVID-19.

eHealth in the support of people with mild intellectual disability in daily life: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

eHealth has recently made rapid progress in care, support and treatment. However, studies on the use of eHealth to support people with a mild intellectual disability in daily life are limited. A systematic review was conducted to provide an overview of this use of eHealth.

METHODS

Seven databases were searched for relevant studies and assessed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Descriptive analyses were deployed using the Matching Person to Technology model to evaluate the key areas contributing to successful eHealth use.

RESULTS

Most of the 46 studies included were small-scale case studies and focused on using eHealth to acquire daily living skills and vocational skills. In addition, several studies focused on eHealth use for self-support in daily living, and three studies focused on remote professional support.

CONCLUSIONS

eHealth offers opportunities to support people with mild intellectual disability in various different contexts of daily life. Scientific research on this topic is in its early stage, and further high-quality research is needed.