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The role of staff in health promotion in community residences for people with intellectual disabilities: variation in views among managers and caregivers
- Authors:
- BERGSTROM Helena, WIHLMAN Ulla
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 15(3), September 2011, pp.167-176.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
Staff in community residences for people with intellectual disabilities are expected both to promote residents’ health and to support their right to make their own choices. The aim of this article was to explore variation in views among managers and caregivers on the role of staff in health promotion. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 6 managers and 6 caregivers from community residences in Stockholm County. Analysis of the transcripts revealed 5 qualitatively different main categories of roles that staff play in health promotion: the parent; the manipulator; the coach; the educator; and the libertarian. Managers mainly expressed views that placed them among the least protective/controlling categories, whilst caregivers were at the other end of the spectrum. The transcripts were also analysed to reveal the lifestyle-related risk factors for ill-health and barriers to a healthy lifestyle that staff in community residences must handle. The results highlight the ethical conflict that faces staff trying to support a healthy lifestyle as well as the autonomy of the residents.
Who cares about disabled victims of crime? Barriers and facilitators for redress
- Author:
- LEWIN Barbro
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 4(3), September 2007, pp.170-176.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The author identified and discusses barriers and facilitators for public action after the occurrence of abuse against an adult with an intellectual disability (ID). Data were collected via a postal survey sent to guardians in one Swedish region with questions about suspected abuse against their wards (n = 978), of whom 392 had an ID (the remaining were affected by dementia or had another physical or mental disability). The rate of abuse was 4.8% (n = 19) among those wards with an ID. A range of abuses were reported, but there were no significant statistical differences attributed by sex of the wards. Facilitating examples for redress in the statutory framework were identified, but it was observed that implementation of redress was often flawed. Three alternative public actions were discussed: (1) victims' refusal to contact the public sector; (2) internal handling by the social services; and (3) reporting to police (but case closed). Findings showed that there were difficulties in understanding that passive respect for integrity and autonomy is not in line with the public ethos that demands actively caring for dependent wards, that offences in residential settings were sometimes handled internally and not reported in accord with the statutory framework, and that the ability of the criminal justice system to compensate for communicative disabilities seemed deficient.
The body of political evidence
- Author:
- SONE Kendra
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 9.10.97, 1997, pp.18-19.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
The revelation that 63,000 people with learning difficulties or mental health problems in Sweden were forcibly sterilised has fuelled the debate about the reproductive rights of people with learning difficulties in this country. Explains the arguments.