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Older women with intellectual disabilities: overcoming barriers to autonomy
- Authors:
- STRNADOVA Iva, EVANS David
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 12(1), 2015, pp.12-19.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study aimed to identify factors both limiting and contributing to a perception of autonomy held by older-aged women with intellectual disabilities. A total of 55 older women with intellectual disabilities resident in New South Wales (Australia) and Czech Republic (Europe) took part in the study. The women were recruited via support groups, employment agencies for persons with disabilities, day centres, sheltered workshops, self-advocacy groups, and nongovernmental organizations. The women were interviewed and the data from the interviews were analysed following a grounded theory approach. The study identified two factors with potential to limit autonomy of women with intellectual disabilities: (1) intra-individual factors (e.g., health issues); and (2) environmental factors (e.g., living arrangements, finances). Drawing on responses from the women, the authors propose factors that may have a potential to strengthen autonomy among these women. The implications of the findings were reviewed and it is suggested that families and service providers should be made aware of ways to support autonomy of older women with intellectual disabilities. (Edited publisher abstract)
Ageing in people with intellectual disability as it is understood by group home staff
- Authors:
- KAHLIN Ida, KJELLBERG Anette, HAGBERG Jan-Erik
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 41(1), 2016, pp.1-10.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: The number of older residents in group homes for people with intellectual disability (ID) is increasing. This interview study was focused on how group home staff address issues of ageing and being old among people with ID. Method: Twelve members of staff at 4 different group homes in Sweden were interviewed. Results: Findings revealed old age as something unarticulated in the group home. Group home staff felt unprepared to meet age-related changes in residents. The study also revealed that group home staff had a one-tracked way of describing the process of ageing among people with ID, which was seemingly rooted in a medical paradigm of disability. Conclusion: Based on this study's findings, we suggest that there is a need to raise issues and give guidance related to ageing and ID in disability policy documents to support the development of a formal culture that addresses old age and ID in disability services. (Publisher abstract)
Lived experiences of ageing and later life in older people with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- KÅHLIN Ida, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 35(3), 2015, pp.602-628.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Draws on the qualitative interviews with 12 people with intellectual disabilities (five men, seven women) to explore how older people with intellectual disability (ID), who live in group accommodation, describe their lived experience in relation to ageing and later life. Participants were aged between the ages of 48 and 71 (mean=64) and lived in four different group accommodation units in southern Sweden. A descriptive phenomenological analysis method was used, which disclosed a structure consisting of themes and sub-themes. The findings reveal the informants' lived experience of ageing and later life as a multifaceted phenomenon, expressed through the two themes. The first theme 'Age as a process of change’, included the sub-themes of bodily functions and health, activity and participation; and the supporting environment. The second theme ‘existential aspects of ageing’, included being old, becoming like others, and death and dying. The body is an essential element in their experience of ageing and growing old, and in how this experience is expressed. The study also found social, cultural and historical dimensions of the life-world to be important in the informants' experience of ageing and later life. This supports understanding of the existence of a collective life-world for older people with ID, the unique experiences the informants share because of their disability and its consequences for their lifecourse. (Edited publisher abstract)
Tolerating uncertainty: perceptions of the future for ageing parent carers and their adult children with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- PRYCE Laura, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 30(1), 2017, pp.84-96.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Background: Improved life expectancy means that more adults with intellectual disabilities are now living with ageing parents. This study explored older families' perceptions of the future. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine older parents and three adults with intellectual disabilities and analysed to produce an explanatory thematic framework. Results: ‘Tolerating uncertainty’ was the major theme in participants' attempts to manage anxieties about the future, encompassing sub-themes of ‘accepting the parenting role’, ‘facing challenges’, ‘being supported/isolated’, ‘positive meaning making’, ‘re-evaluating as time moves on’ and ‘managing future thinking’. Some participants expressed preferences for their future which were in contrast to their parents' views, and provide a unique perspective that has often been neglected in prior research. Conclusions: This research has found commonalities in how families tolerate the uncertainty of the future, but also unique differences that require tailored interventions and prospective action by services. (Publisher abstract)
Staff responses to age-related health changes in people with an intellectual disability in group homes
- Authors:
- WEBBER Ruth, BOWERS Barbara, MCKENZIE-GREEN Barbara
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 25(6), October 2010, pp.657-671.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The purpose of this study was to explore how supervisors in group homes caring for people with intellectual disability responded to the development of age-related health changes in their residents. It examined how staff in Victoria, Australia, viewed age-related changes, how they decided when a resident should go to residential aged care, and how they supported people who stayed despite significant age-related health problems. Information from in-depth interviews with 10 group home supervisors working in the disability sector was analysed using dimensional analysis. The article discusses factors related to care including resident health characteristics, resources, skills and comfort level of supervisors, ability to navigate health and disability sector rules and regulations, and concern about impact on other residents. The findings from the study suggested that group home supervisors are the primary decision-makers about whether residents can remain in the group home or will be relocated to residential aged care, and that although supervisors consistently expressed the belief that, at some point, residents with serious health conditions may require more intensive or skilled care, there was less consistency in their views about the criteria determining when a resident can no longer be accommodated in the home.
Adaptation of Flemish services to accommodate and support the ageing of people with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- MAES Bea, VAN PUYENBROECK Joris
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 5(4), December 2008, pp.245-252.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The authors attempted to find out to what extent and in which ways, in Belgium, have Flemish services for people with intellectual disability adapted to the specific needs of aging people. A study was undertaken and a questionnaire was developed to address the following research topics: (1) accommodations and personnel, (2) staff working methods, and (3) staff views and attitudes. The questionnaire was completed by 66 coordinating staff members in as many facilities. At the time of the study, these services supported 310 (27%) persons with Down syndrome age 40 years and older and 833 (73%) persons with intellectual disability (other than Down syndrome) age 55 years and older. Adaptations in accommodation and personnel management were obvious in the majority of the participating services. The working methods reflected a person-centred philosophy, regardless of the age-factor. An exploratory factor analysis revealed three different staff approaches: an activating/socializing, disengaging, and methodical. Participation in activities and involvement in social relations have a prominent place in the staff's views. In general, the authors found that about two-thirds of the services have started to modify their accommodation and personnel to the needs of aging people with intellectual disability. The authors note also that the results suggest there is still a lot of work to do in improving staff training, introducing specific working methods, and in altering stereotypical staff attitudes to assure a good "aging in place."
Quality of life and real life cognitive functioning
- Author:
- ESRC GROWING OLDER PROGRAMME
- Publisher:
- University of Sheffield. Department of Sociological Studies
- Publication year:
- 2003
- Pagination:
- 4p.
- Place of publication:
- Sheffield
This study examined the predictive value of mid-life risk factors for cognitive functioning in old age. Participants were drawn from a study of middle-aged people living in research conducted 30 years ago. Current cognitive functioning, both 'abstract' and 'real world', was assessed, along with attitudes and beliefs regarding how to maintain cognitive functioning in old age. Cognitive functioning was then examined in relation to perceived quality of life.
Age or disability? Age-based disparities in service provision for older people with intellectual disabilities in Great Britain
- Authors:
- WALKER Alan, WALKER Carol
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 23(1), March 1998, pp.25-39.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This article concentrates on the role of service providers in prescribing artificial limits to the potential of older people with intellectual disabilities. Argues that the key factor in this social creation of dependency is the age discriminatory attitudes held by some service providers and which distinguish between the different British service cultures in provision for older people and those for people with an intellectual disability. Thus the behaviour of care staff and the assumptions implicit in social policies can result in practices which reinforce dependency rather than empowerment.
Ageing matters: pathways for older people with a learning disability; manager's reader
- Authors:
- MOSS Steve, LAMBE Loretto, HOGG James
- Publisher:
- British Institute of Learning Disabilities
- Publication year:
- 1998
- Pagination:
- 179p.
- Place of publication:
- Kidderminster
Managers reader accompanying a set of six study units containing training materials for staff working with older people with learning difficulties. This reader has sections on: what we mean by ageing; the concept of successful ageing; trends in ageing and society; the implications of increased life expectancy; and society's attitude to ageing and older people.
Levelling the odds
- Author:
- WALKER Carol
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 23.5.96, 1996, p.25.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
The needs of older people with learning difficulties are often overlooked. The author argues that if service providers can find ways of meeting the challenge, the can lead full lives.