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A process of decision-making support: exploring supported decision-making practice in Canada
- Authors:
- BROWNING Michelle, BIGBY Christine, DOUGLAS Jacinta
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 46(2), 2021, pp.138-149.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: Canada was the first country to develop legal mechanisms that allow for supported decision making, and little research has explored how decision making is supported in this context. This research aimed to understand how seven people with intellectual disabilities, living in two Canadian provinces, were supported with their decision making. Method: The research used constructivist grounded theory methodology, interviewing and observing the decision making of seven people with mild to severe intellectual disabilities and 25 decision supporters. Results: A common process of decision-making support was discovered, involving dynamic interaction between the person’s will and preferences and supporters’ responses. This interaction was influenced by five factors: the experiences and attributes the person and their supporter brought to the process; the quality of their relationship; the decision-making environment and the nature and consequences of the decision. Conclusion: The highly individualised and contextually dependent nature of decision-making support has implications for supported decision-making practice. (Edited publisher abstract)
Why are conferences "Sometimes about us, without us"?
- Authors:
- FRAWLEY Patsie, BIGBY Christine, FORSYTH Heather
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 31(4), December 2006, pp.249-251.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In this article the authors identify a number of issues, and make suggestions, of how to make conferences about people with learning disabilities to be more accessible to people with learning disabilities. The article is based on their involvement with the Australasian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability (ASSID) National Conferences.
Critical realism in social work research: examining participation of people with intellectual disability
- Authors:
- CRAIG Diane, BIGBY Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Australian Social Work, 68(3), 2015, pp.309-323.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Critical realism has not been taken up readily within social work research and this may be due to the difficulty of the language and lack of practice examples of its applicability. This paper outlines the basic precepts of critical realism, the implications of these for methodology, and then offers a practical example of its application to social work research in the area of intellectual disability using some of the techniques of more familiar qualitative research methodologies. In response to the increased influence of poststructuralist ideas within social work along with the somewhat contradictory call for evidence-based practice, this paper suggests critical realism as a way of developing empirically based knowledge about the effects of interventions while at the same time accounting for the complexity involved in social work practice. (Publisher abstract)
Implementation of active support in Victoria, Australia: an exploratory study
- Authors:
- MANSELL Jim, BEADLE-BROWN Julie, BIGBY Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 38(1), 2013, pp.48-58.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Active support is an effective intervention to support engagement of residents with intellectual disability in group homes. This survey explored resident characteristics of the people supported by organisations implementing active support, the provision of active support, its procedures and systems, and resident engagement in meaningful activity and relationships. Information was collected through questionnaires and direct observation of 33 group homes from 6 organisations in Victoria, Australia, with a 5–10-year history of implementing active support. Residents with lower support needs were engaged with little staff contact or assistance. Use of active support systems and structures was mixed. Only one organisation consistently provided good active support. Administrative systems and structures are not sufficient to change staff interaction and thus resident experience. Shared supported accommodation services may represent an inefficient use of resources for more able residents, as staff resources are not maximised to support for resident engagement. (Publisher abstract)
Inclusion in political and public life: the experiences of people with intellectual disability on government disability advisory bodies in Australia
- Authors:
- FRAWLEY Patsie, BIGBY Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 36(1), March 2011, pp.27-38.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In the last decade, Australian governments have used disability advisory bodies as a means to canvass the views of people with disability and involve them in the process of policy making. This study explored the political orientations that members with an intellectual disability bring to disability advisory bodies and their experience of participating, in order to consider the types of support necessary to facilitate their participation. The 9 main participants were the only people with an intellectual disability who were members of disability advisory bodies in Australia in 2005. 2 or more in-depth interviews were conducted with each of them. 12 people associated with the participants' membership of the advisory body, including support workers and other members, were also interviewed. 3 political orientations were identified: democratic orientation (participation as a right), professional orientation (participation as a status symbol) and communitarian orientation (participation as the role of a community member). The participants found the work hard but rewarding, encountered both practical and intangible obstacles to participation, and received varying types of support. The article discusses the findings, with examples from the interviews, including experiences of participation, challenges and types of participation support.
Identifying conceptualizations and theories of change embedded in interventions to facilitate community participation for people with intellectual disability: a scoping review
- Authors:
- BIGBY Christine, ANDERSON Sian, CAMERON Nadine
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 31(2), 2018, pp.165-180.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Background: Little progress has been made towards community participation of people with intellectual disability despite it being a policy aim since the 1980s. We aimed to identify the features of programmes designed to support community participation. Method: A scoping review was conducted of peer-reviewed literature between 2000 and 2015, about interventions to support community participation for adults with intellectual disability. Results: A small body of evidence relates to the design and effectiveness of interventions to enhance community participation. Seventeen studies reported programmes reflecting three conceptualisations of community participation (as social relationships, as convivial encounter and as belonging) that used strategies such as active mentoring, facilitative support worker practice and arts-based programmes. Conclusions: Studies showed the diverse and person-centred nature of community participation and demonstrated the need for larger-scale studies of promising interventions that include details of costs, and strategies to guide implementation of policies to support community participation. (Edited publisher abstract)