What is important when setting up a new team of support staff? (Lay summary of the research)
Some people with mild intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning exhibit severe challenging behavior, such as aggressive behavior toward support staff. For this reason, they often need to move from one care facility to another. To improve the quality of life of these people, care organizations sometimes start a new home – including a new team of support staff.
Within the project Pro (a collaboration between care organizations ASVZ, Pluryn, and Trajectum, care administration offices VGZ and Zilveren Kruis, and the Center for Consultation and Expertise (CCE)) , six residential homes with new teams of support staff have been set up for 24 people with mild intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning and complex care needs. Pro aims to offer these people as normal a life as possible and to prevent exclusion and transfers by focusing on 1) unconditionality in terms of residence and the support relationship, and 2) an orthopedagogical approach: tailoring the environment as much as possible to service users’ needs.
A study by the Academic Collaborative Centre Living with an Intellectual Disability (AWVB, Tranzo, Tilburg University) shows what service users, support staff, psychologists, and a team leader consider important starting start a new home – including a new team of support staff.
Read more about the research and the results in the lay summary of the research.
