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Additional support for individuals with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors in regions of northwest Europe
- Authors:
- LUNENBORG Carolien B., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 8(2), June 2011, pp.92-103.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
About 10% of individuals with intellectual disability (ID) exhibit challenging behaviours. To support parents and care staff when they are unable to find a solution to overcome or reduce these behaviours, some countries provide additional professional support. In the Netherlands, 5 regional Centres for Consultation and Expertise (CCEs) offer supplemental support as part of their consultation programme. This study was undertaken to determine if additional professional support occurs in other regions of northwestern Europe and, if so, how was is organised. The regions which were looked at were Norway, Flanders, England, Wales, and the German regions of the Rhineland. Key informants in each region completed questionnaires about additional support services. The findings showed a diversity of approaches addressing additional support services. In most regions, there is no general formal policy on providing such support for individuals with ID, their parents, or care staff. Instead, either a range of local initiatives have been developed or there are no initiatives. In these instances, persons with ID or their carers have to rely on regular support services to address their mental health needs. The article concludes that organising additional support as part of a formal services will increase the likelihood that, when regular support has failed, individuals with ID or their carers will be able to obtain supports to find solutions for reducing problematic challenging behaviours.
Ageing and health status in adults with intellectual disabilities: results of the European Pomona II study
- Authors:
- HAVEMAN Meindert, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 36(1), March 2011, pp.49-60.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
POMONA II was a European Commission funded public health project collecting information from 14 countries using a set of key health indicators specifically relevant for people with intellectual disabilities. This research focused on age-specific differences relating to environmental and lifestyle factors and the 17 medical conditions measured by the POMONA Checklist of Health Indicators. The article describes how information was collected using the POMONA Health Interview Survey and Evaluation Form from a sample of 1,253 participants in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It then presents the results of the analysis, with tables showing characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities in the study, frequency of social contacts with relatives or friends according to age, lifestyle risk factors in people with intellectual disabilities according to age, and general and age-specific prevalence rates of health problems. The authors discuss how healthy older adults with intellectual disabilities are with regard to lifestyle factors, and whether there are health disparities between older adults with and without intellectual disabilities. They note that some evidence of health disparities was found for older people with intellectual disabilities, particularly in terms of under diagnosed or inadequately managed preventable health conditions.