Adaptation of Flemish Services to Accommodate and Support the Aging of People With Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

The authors attempted to find out to what extent and in which ways, in Belgium, have Flemish services for people with intellectual disability adapted to the specific needs of aging people. A study was undertaken and a questionnaire was developed to address the following research topics: (1) accommodations and personnel, (2) staff working methods, and (3) staff views and attitudes. The questionnaire was completed by 66 coordinating staff members in as many facilities. At the time of our study, these services supported 310 (27%) persons with Down syndrome age 40 years and older and 833 (73%) persons with intellectual disability (other than Down syndrome) age 55 years and older. Adaptations in accommodation and personnel management were obvious in the majority of the participating services. The working methods reflected a person‐centered philosophy, regardless of the age‐factor. An exploratory factor analysis revealed three different staff approaches: an activating/socializing, disengaging, and methodical. Participation in activities and involvement in social relations have a prominent place in the staff's views. In general, the authors found that about two‐thirds of the services have started to modify their accommodation and personnel to the needs of aging people with intellectual disability. The authors note also that the results suggest there is still a lot of work to do in improving staff training, introducing specific working methods, and in altering stereotypical staff attitudes to assure a good “aging in place.”

Stigma research in the field of intellectual disabilities: a scoping review on the perspective of care providers

“…Staff, for example, mainly attributed negative traits (like “unpredictable,” “insecure,” “self-centred,” “lacking in empathy”) to the personality disorder and not the ID of their clients. Also, Maes and Van Puyenbroeck ( 2008 ) demonstrated that some staff members held stereotypical attitudes toward elderly patients with ID based on ageist assumptions (e.g. people should have the opportunity to slow down and be inactive), that may limit the range of opportunities that are offered to older people with ID.…”

The Characteristics of Effective Staff Teams in Disability Services

“…The quality of life of people with autism and developmental disabilities often depends on the attributes of individual staff providing support: their knowledge, skills, experience, and values, as well as their attitudes, confidence, and emotional intelligence (EI) (Larson & Hewitt, ; Maes & Van Puyenbroeck, ; Wilkinson, Kerr, & Cunningham, ). Consistent with such assertions, staff's individual attributes have been found to affect the standard of personal assistance services (i.e., the provision of support with bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, shopping, finances, and medication management), to influence client sexual expression (Hingsburger & Tough, ), client access to technological resources (Verdonschot, de Witte, Reichrath, Buntinx, & Curfs, ), and client outcomes in the workplace (Neri, Wong, & Harrington, ).…”

Ageing of people with an intellectual disability: Effective training for frontline workers

“…Despite mixed findings, recommendations for training are widespread (Bigby, 2004;Dowse et al, 2009;Hewitt & Larson, 2007;Maes & Van Puyenbroeck, 2008;Williamson & Harvey, 2007). This paper contributes to the discussion on training by identifying reviewed training needs analyses and 'ready-to-deliver' training programs ii for frontline disability services staff who work with older adults with an intellectual disability, assessing whether the training programs are associated with improved outcomes for service users, and making recommendations for further research and training for staff who work with older people with intellectual disability.…”