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‘It's been adapted rather than impacted’: a qualitative evaluation of the impact of Covid‐19 restrictions on the positive behavioural support of people with an intellectual disability and/or autism
- Authors:
- MCKENZIE Karen, MURRAY George C., MARTIN Rachel
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, early cite 22 January 2021,
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Background: We used a qualitative approach to explore the experiences of social care staff regarding the provision of positive behavioural support (PBS) to people with an intellectual disability at the height of the Covid‐19 restrictions. Method: We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 19 staff who had recently completed a PBS workforce development programme. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were identified in the context of the restrictions: The challenges to maintaining quality of life and PBS of the people being supported and staff attempts to overcome these; the ways in which PBS and behaviour support plans were implemented and the impact on behaviours that challenge; the ways in which PBS principles were applied at organisational levels to help to understand and address staff stress and distress. Conclusions: Overall, the staff identified many unexpected benefits of the restrictions. The results are discussed in the context of the study limitations. (Edited publisher abstract)
The impact of staff training on the knowledge of support staff in relation to bereavement and people with an intellectual disability
- Authors:
- WATTERS Laura, MCKENZIE Karen, WRIGHT Rachel
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 40(3), September 2012, pp.194-200.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Despite a growing understanding of bereavement and mourning in the general population, the needs of individuals with a learning disability who are bereaved have often been neglected and misunderstood. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a 1-day training course on the knowledge of care staff about supporting an individual with a learning disability who has experienced bereavement. The training included content on bereavement and grief, responses to bereavement in individuals with learning disability, and how to support an individual with learning disability after bereavement. The study utilised a questionnaire based, mixed design. Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 equal groups. The 2 groups were trained at different times, allowed group 2 to act both as a control group and later to receive training. Within- and between-group comparisons were made. The training was shown to have significantly improved care staff knowledge in all the areas measured. An analysis of staff knowledge at 1 month after training was not possible due to a low response rate.
The application of the theory of planned behaviour to diet in carers of people with an intellectual disability
- Authors:
- JENKINS Catherine M., MCKENZIE Karen
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 24(3), May 2011, pp.237-246.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Poor diet and weight control are particular issues for people with an intellectual disability. This study investigated the utility of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in predicting the intentions of care staff to encourage healthy eating behaviour in the people with an intellectual disability that they support. A quantitative, within-participant, questionnaire based design was used with 112 care staff from voluntary and charitable organisations to assess the performance of 2 TPB models. The first contained the variables: attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. The second had additional variables of self-efficacy and self-identity. The results found that the first model accounted for 31% of the variance with all 3 variables being significant predictors. Adding variables increased the overall predictive power of the model by 4%, but resulted in a reduction in the predictive power of the individual variables. The results suggests the TPB is a useful model for predicting carer intentions in relation to the diet of those they support, with their perceptions of the attitudes of others towards healthy eating being a key influential factor. Ways in which this may inform interventions to improve the overall health of people with intellectual disabilities are discussed.