How Parents Experience the Quality of Support: A Survey in Residential Care

Abstract

As parents and/or legal guardians are considered to be part of the care system of a person with intellectual disabilities (ID), it is of import to acquire more specific and transparent views from parents and/or legal guardians regarding quality of support. This study examined the views of parents and/or legal guardians on the quality of support provided to clients with an ID in residential care in the Netherlands, in order to improve the partnership between parents/legal guardians and facilities. A questionnaire developed in close cooperation with parents specifically for this aim was sent to 1,785 households (parents and/or legal guardians) of clients in the Netherlands. The questionnaire consists of the following five subsections: daily care, housing, day services, leisure activities, and communication. A multiple regression analysis was performed to determine which factors contributed to the satisfaction of parents and/or legal guardians. The questionnaires returned (n = 1,058) showed that respondents rated the overall quality of support at an average grade of 7.3 out of 10 (SD: 1.2). Small but mostly significant differences were found between the subsections. A significant model for the overall quality of support emerged; nevertheless, the predictor variables accounted for only 4.0% of the explained variance in the data set. Special attention should be paid to the percentage of parents and/or legal guardians who gave unsatisfactory scores (10%) and the substantial percentage (25%) of parents and/or legal guardians that rated the quality of care only marginally satisfactory (grades 6-7). The results of this questionnaire provide opportunities for optimal use of the qualities and knowledge of parents and/or legal guardians, opportunities for mutual communication between the service organization and parents and/or legal guardians, and guidance for policy regarding improvements in support.

Does the severity of disability matter? The opinion of parents about professional support in residential facilities

“…The opinion of parents and/or legal guardians about the quality of support was measured using the Groningen Care Barometer (GCB) (Vlaskamp et al ; Luijkx et al ). This questionnaire consists of three sections.…”

“…The third section asked respondents to indicate the importance of the five individual subsections discussed in the second section on a five‐point Likert scale. The questionnaire has good psychometric properties (Luijkx et al ).…”

“…A large‐scale study ( n = 1058) focused on the opinion of parents and legal guardians on the services provided to their relatives showed that the majority of parents and/or legal guardians were satisfied overall, with a small but persistent percentage (10%) of parents and/or legal guardians remaining dissatisfied with the services provided. A substantial 25% were only moderately satisfied with the quality of support (Luijkx et al ). It is not clear what these large differences in opinions of parents and/or legal guardians are related to.…”

“…Felce and Emerson () and Mansell (), for example, state in their review studies that the support provided to persons with greater support needs, resulted in poorer client outcomes. Specifically on the relationship between the severity of the disability and the opinion of parents and/or legal guardians about quality of support (Luijkx et al ), data is lacking and more research is needed.…”

“…Therefore, the main goal of this study is to determine in more detail than in the study of Luijkx et al () whether and how the opinions of parents and/or legal guardians vary for different groups of persons with intellectual disabilities and/or additional disabilities while controlling for other variables. Gaining greater knowledge of the opinions of parents and/or legal guardians on the quality of support in relation to the severity of the disability is essential to improve the partnership and collaboration between support service providers and parents and/or legal guardians, which is consistent with the idea of family‐centred care (King et al ).…”