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The views of clients with mild intellectual disabilities regarding their working relationships with caregivers
- Authors:
- ROEDEN John M., MAASKANT Marian A., CURFS Leopard M.G.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 24(5), September 2011, pp.398-406.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
A good relationship between the client and his caregiver is a key factor in a positive treatment outcome, with research indicating that the client’s opinion about the quality of the working alliance is a stronger predictor of treatment outcome than the opinion of the professional. Many treatment programmes, including solution focused brief therapy (SFBT), strive to encourage a positive client-caregiver relationship. The aim of this study is to gain insight into what clients with intellectual disabilities feel contributes to a successful working relationship with caregivers. The study participants were 18 clients of an organisation providing support to people with intellectual disabilities. Data was collected using the nominal group technique (NGT), which was modified for use with people with intellectual disabilities. The project demonstrates that the NGT is a valuable instrument in bringing to the fore of the opinions and priorities of clients with intellectual disabilities. The findings revealed that the way in which caregivers deliver their support is important. The specific qualities that are valued are reliability, empathy, and a non-patronising attitude. The particular types of support seem to be less influential in terms of treatment success. Furthermore, the results show that the clients’ preferred ways of receiving help correspond with the basic assumptions in SFBT.
Solution-focused brief therapy with persons with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- ROEDEN John M., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 6(4), December 2009, pp.253-259.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a short-term, goal-focused, and client-directed therapeutic approach that helps the client to generate solutions rather than dwell on problems. SFBT has rarely been used with clients with intellectual disabilities (ID). The authors discuss how this relatively new form of therapy in an adapted form can be made suitable for clients with ID. The assumptions of this therapeutic approach, the types of problems and settings addressed by SFBT and a description of the interventions used are considered. Indications and contraindications for SFBT and empirical data on the effectiveness of the therapy are discussed with regard to clients with or without ID. Tailoring SFBT to clients with ID can be done by using simple language, modified interventions and inserting other adaptations into the therapy process. Research is needed to demonstrate whether SFBT if effective with this target group can and to what extent it is valued by clients and their carers.
Solution-focused coaching of staff of people with severe and moderate intellectual disabilities: a case series
- Authors:
- ROEDEN John M., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 9(3), September 2012, pp.185-194.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Solution-focused coaching (SFC) is an approach based on solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) for staff teams working with individuals with severe or moderate intellectual disabilities. SFC represents a short-term, future-focused, and person-directed therapeutic approach that helps people focus on solutions rather than problems. In SFC, the team formulates a goal and a strategy to meet the goal. This article describes an exploratory study of SFC used by 13 teams of direct care workers providing residential or vocational support for people with ID. In all 13 cases, the progress toward the team goal, proactive thinking of staff, and the quality of the relationship between staff and people with intellectual disabilities were measured directly before SFC, directly after SFC, and 6 weeks after SFC. After SFC, progress toward the team goal was found in 7 out of 13 teams, improvement of proactive thinking was found in 5 out of 10 teams and improvement of the quality of the relationship was found in 7 out of 13 teams. With regard to individual staff members, improvement of proactive thinking was found in 12 out of 34 staff members and improvement of the quality of the relationship was found in 22 out of 42 staff members. The findings show that SFC stimulates dealing with support problems in a behavioural, proactive way and can be a useful approach in building relationships.
Solution-focused brief therapy with people with mild intellectual disabilities: a case series
- Authors:
- ROEDEN John M., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 8(4), December 2011, pp.247-255.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
People with intellectual disabilities often present with additional psychological problems. Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) is a form of behaviour therapy that focuses on desired behaviour rather than on the existing problem behaviour. This case study explored 10 applications of SFBT with people with a mild intellectual disability (MID) from a service provider of children and adults with ID in the Netherlands. SFBT sessions varied between 2 and 14 hours per week. Measurements taken before, after, and during a 6-week follow up included an assessment of quality of life and assessment of maladaptive behaviour as well as goal attainment according to people with MID and their carers. Findings revealed that SFBT treatments contributed to improvements in psychological functioning and decreases in maladaptive behaviour. The positive changes evident after SFBT proved sustainable during follow-up. Treatment strategies and therapeutic alliances employed were usually assessed as positive by the participants. The authors concluded that the study indicated the effectiveness of SFBT for people with MID.
The Nominal Group Technique as an evaluation tool for solution-focused coaching
- Authors:
- ROEDEN John M., MAASKANT Marian A., CURFS Leopold M. G.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 25(6), November 2012, pp.588-593.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Solution-focused coaching (SFC) is a competence-based approach aimed at assisting individuals or groups to make desired changes in their personal or work life. The approach has been found to be useful for coaching teams who support people with intellectual disabilities (ID). The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) provides a structured method for collecting and organising the thoughts of a group of people with regard to a particular question. The aim of this study was to examine the perceived strengths of, and recommendations for, SFC for teams coaching people with ID via NGT, as well as the extent to which the NGT results reflect the results of an SFC questionnaire. The participants were 54 staff members at a Dutch service provider for children and adults with ID. The participants were coached in line with the principles of SFC. Eighteen participated in NGT, while 36 completed the SFC questionnaire. The strengths of and recommendations for SFC were obtained via NGT. The strengths of SFC include ‘exploring hidden successes’ and ‘focusing on solutions’. It was recommended that ‘the results be consolidated in follow-up meetings’. The SFC questionnaire participants largely agreed with the NGT statements on the content of the strengths and recommendations, but differed in terms of priorities. The article concludes that NGT is a valuable tool in exploring people's opinions and priorities, but further research is needed to elucidate the perceived priorities of SFC for teams coaching persons with ID.