Experiences of Support Staff with Expanding and Strengthening Social Networks of People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

A supportive social network is crucial for facilitating social inclusion. The social networks of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often small and typically include very little contact with friends and acquaintances who do not have ID. Professionals can play an important role in strengthening and expanding the social networks of clients. In this study, experiences with interventions aimed at doing this were examined. Six group interviews were held with a total of 27 professionals. The results showed interventions to strengthen social networks (e.g. attention to the maintenance of contact with network members) and interventions to expand social networks (e.g. participation in leisure time activities and working with volunteers). However, a large number of impeding factors was mentioned, such as the limited size of the social networks, characteristics of the client, different perceptions and clients falling between the cracks when it comes to leisure time. The large number of impeding factors shows the strengthening and expansion of social networks to be complicated in actual practice. Recommendations are thus made to strengthen and expand the social networks of clients in an innovative manner which also takes these impeding factors into account.

Tackling community integration in mental health home visit integration in Finland

“…, Asselt‐Goverts et al . ). Yet, as our analysis demonstrates, service users are directed to make changes in their ways of doing and thinking in order to adjust better to common life in the community.…”

“…Community integration work in action is demanding for both the service users and the practitioners: how to balance normative cultural expectations and different and multiple ways to integrate so that the service users would be able to adopt valued roles in the community (see also Asselt‐Goverts et al . ). Integration is about social interaction in the community.…”

Social networks of people with mild intellectual disabilities: characteristics, satisfaction, wishes and quality of life

“…Abbott & McConkey 2006) with interventions aimed at strengthening and expanding the social networks of clients (e.g. Support staff can be key agents in stimulating contact with the existing social network by stimulating the client to give someone in the network a call, call upon network members more frequently when help is needed and discuss any misunderstandings or problems which arise (van Asselt-Goverts et al 2014). To tailor interventions to the strengths and weaknesses of the individual social network of a client, it is recommended that the social networks be systematically mapped using an instrument like the MSNA (Baars 1994) but then adapted for use with people with ID (van Asselt-Goverts et al 2012.…”

The effectiveness of staff training focused on increasing emotional intelligence and improving interaction between support staff and clients

“…Research regarding individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) conducted the last decades has shown the importance of aiming at interpersonal relationships of clients in order to investigate or improve quality of life (Schalock & Verdugo ; Hastings ; Asselt‐Goverts et al . ). Additionally, the role of support staff in the social network of people with ID is more and more recognised (Verdonschot et al .…”