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AbstractResearch exploring the experiences of families during the process of seeking out‐of‐home accommodation for an adult son or daughter with intellectual disability is scarce. A study was undertaken to examine this process. Nine families currently seeking out‐of‐home accommodation for their adult son or daughter were interviewed and interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Two main themes were identified: (1) reasons for seeking housing and (2) experiences of seeking housing. Parents' aging and increased health problems along with the offspring's wish for greater independence were the main reasons for seeking out‐of home accommodation. Experiences of looking for a house were not straightforward in that parents often wanted to plan ahead but were prevented from doing so as the housing system prioritizes "housing crises." Findings showed that families experienced seeking housing as stressful and frustrating and would like to see social care and housing professionals acknowledge them as collaborative partners in the process. The authors conclude there also needs to be greater clarity of expectation of the duration of finding suitable accommodation, a process that needs to be started early in a young adult's life.

AbstractEnsuring families of children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (e.g., developmental delay, intellectual disability, autism) can access early intervention and support is important. Current research indicates there are family‐level socioeconomic disparities of access to early intervention and support, however, there is limited evidence on the relationship between neighbourhood‐level socioeconomic deprivation and access to support. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and families' access to and unmet need for early intervention and support. We collected cross‐sectional data using a survey of 673 parental caregivers of young children with suspected or diagnosed intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in the UK. Multiple regression models were fitted for three early intervention and support outcome variables: access to early intervention; access to services across education, health, social care, and other sectors; and unmet need for services. Each regression model included a neighbourhood deprivation variable based on the index of multiple deprivation and five control variables: family‐level economic deprivation, country, caregivers' educational level, developmental disability diagnosis, and informal support sources. Neighbourhood deprivation was a significant independent predictor of access to services, but neighbourhood deprivation was not a significant predictor of access to early intervention or unmet need for services. Families living in the most deprived neighbourhoods accessed fewer services than other families. Socioeconomic disparities of access to early intervention and support, at both a neighbourhood and family level, exist for families of young children with suspected or diagnosed intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in the UK. Future research should focus on policy and other interventions aimed at addressing socioeconomic disparities at the neighbourhood and family level, to ensure equitable access to early intervention and support.

Background  Individuals with intellectual disability are at higher risk of premature death compared with individuals without intellectual disability, and therefore parents of people with intellectual disability are more likely to outlive their children. However, there has been relatively little research investigating the bereavement experiences of parents of deceased children with intellectual disability.Method  Semi‐structured interviews were used to explore the experiences of nine mothers whose child with intellectual disability had died. The transcripts were analysed qualitatively using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.Results  Five themes emerged from the analysis: loss, benefit finding, coping, sources of support and medical relationships. An analysis of the accounts indicated similarities and differences between the experiences of the mothers. In particular, continuing in their caring role by working within the world of intellectual disability following the death of their child was important to all of the mothers. Support from similarly bereaved parents was the most useful source of support, although it was not always readily accessible.Conclusions  Implications for theory and practice are described including suggestions that service providers should aim to maintain links with families after the death of their child, a parent‐to‐parent programme that enables parents to contact others in a similar situation might be beneficial, and further research into the functions of coping strategies and supports in loss would be worthwhile.

Grandparents' support to families of children with disabilities is generally associated with improved parental well-being. Little research addresses the question of quantitative differences in grandparent support to families of children with and without disabilities. This article examines such differences. Data was collected on 50 mothers of children with spina bifida and 43 mothers of children without disabilities and results showed how mothers rated perceived maternal and paternal grandparent support. No differences were found between mothers of children with and without disabilities. These results confirm previous findings that grandparent support appears to be no more frequent in families of children with disabilities than in other families. These findings are discussed with reference to sampling limitations and implications for further research.

AbstractBackgroundStructured assessments have been shown to assist professionals to evaluate the risk of aggression in secure services for general offender populations and more recently among adults with intellectual disabilities. There is a need to develop intellectual disability sensitive measures for predicting risk of aggression in community samples, especially tools with a focus on dynamic variables.MethodsThe study prospectively followed 28 participants for up to 2 months to test whether the Current Risk of Violence (CuRV) and Short Dynamic Risk Scale (SDRS) were able to predict verbal and physical aggression in a community sample of adults with intellectual disability.ResultsCuRV and SDRS ratings significantly predicted verbal and physical aggression over a 2‐month period.ConclusionsThe current study supports the use of the CuRV with adults with intellectual disability living in community settings. The CuRV and SDRS are worthy of future development and evaluation in independent investigations.

AbstractBackgroundThe review examined the effectiveness of Active Support (RQ1) and stakeholders' experiences of the model (RQ2).MethodData were meta‐analysed (RQ1; studies = 14) and synthesized narratively (RQ2; studies = 10).ResultsBy follow‐up (6 months post‐training), effect sizes (RQ1) for resident total activity engagement were significant and ranged from small (d = 0.33, 95% CIs: 0.10–0.50) to large (Tau‐U = 0.95, 95% CIs: 0.64–1.25) depending on study design. Follow‐up changes in staff assistance were moderate (d = 0.56, 95% CIs: 0.23–0.89; Tau‐U 0.63, 95% CIs: 0.32–0.93) and large for quality of support (d = 1.03, 95% CIs: 0.61–1.44). Other outcomes did not change.ConclusionsActive Support was more effective following complete staff training, in larger settings, at lower staff‐to‐resident ratios and with less experienced staff. Active Support training and outcomes were valued by staff and residents (RQ2), and staff experienced increased job satisfaction. Lower staff turnover and organizational readiness appear crucial for maintaining implementation.

Several randomised controlled trials suggest that mindfulness-based approaches are helpful in preventing depressive relapse and recurrence, and the UK Government's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has recommended these interventions for use in the National Health Service. There are good grounds to suggest that mindfulness-based approaches are also helpful with anxiety disorders and a range of chronic physical health problems, and there is much clinical and research interest in applying mindfulness approaches to other populations and problems such as people with personality disorders, substance abuse, and eating disorders. We review the UK context for developments in mindfulness-based approaches and set out criteria for mindfulness teacher competence and training steps, as well as some of the challenges and future directions that can be anticipated in ensuring that evidence-based mindfulness approaches are available in health care and other settings.

AbstractPartly due to a lack of evidence‐based methods to support people with intellectual disability (ID) and challenging behavior, their needs are often poorly met. One way to generate rapid evidence is to systematically describe and monitor interventions that are considered to be "good practice"—to develop evidence based on practical knowledge. This study describes the Dutch practice‐based intervention Triple‐C (Client, Coach, Competence). The intervention was developed in practice to support people with severe ID to borderline functioning and challenging behavior. The practice‐based nature of Triple‐C means that many of the professionals' actions or activities are often underpinned by their implicit knowledge about the intervention they are delivering. Consequently, as the emphasis is on practice, the professionals can find it difficult to articulate how the intervention is operationalized and positive change achieved. This study aimed to assess the practical knowledge of Triple‐C professionals and to develop an understanding of the mechanisms of change for Triple‐C to improve understanding and to inform future research about the intervention. Through an iterative process, a logic model was developed to describe the intervention and its underlying assumptions. The development of the logic model was shaped using interviews with the founders, focus groups with support staff, psychologists, managers and members of the board of a service provider, and the analysis of published accounts of the Triple‐C intervention. Data gathered from these sources were analyzed using content analysis. The logic model of the Triple‐C intervention provides insight into the key elements of the approach, such as the need for unconditional supportive relationship and carrying out meaningful activities. Moreover, the potential relationship with existing evidence‐based interventions such as Positive Behavioral Support and Active Support are described. Defining the underlying logic of a practice‐based intervention like Triple‐C is an important first step toward producing an evidence base for interventions developed from clinical practice.

AbstractBackgroundTo enhance social inclusion of people with intellectual disability, policy is aimed at increasing informal support networks. Nevertheless, staff continue to play a vital role in their support networks.MethodSix individuals with mild intellectual disability, living in community‐based settings, were interviewed following a semi‐structured format. In‐depth accounts of participants' support experiences were established using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.ResultsThree main themes were identified: relationships with staff placed within a personal history, relationships with staff within an organisational context, and staff support and interviewees' place in the world.ConclusionsRelationships with staff were often one of the closest and most significant social relationships participants had. As living in the community had not necessarily led to meaningful inclusion for participants, the findings point at the important role of staff in supporting and facilitating friendships and close relationships of people with intellectual disability.

BackgroundThe Behaviour Problems Inventory‐Short Form (BPI‐S) is a spin‐off of the BPI‐01 that was empirically developed from a large BPI‐01 data set. In this study, the reliability and factorial validity of the BPI‐S was investigated for the first time on newly collected data from adults with intellectual disabilities.MethodsThe sample consisted of 232 adults with intellectual disabilities who represented all levels of intellectual functioning. They were recruited at several day programs in the USA (n = 148) and the UK (n = 84).ResultsWe found acceptable reliability in terms of internal consistency, inter‐rater agreement and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis validated the three BPI‐S subscale structure.ConclusionsWe corroborated the factor structure underly‐ing the three subscales and found the BPI‐S to have adequate to good psychometric properties in a newly collected sample of adults with intellectual disabilities.

AbstractBackgroundInformal supportive networks of individuals with intellectual disability have become increasingly important. The aim of this paper is to describe how the Family Network Method – Intellectual Disability (FNM‐ID) offers a way to gather the perspective of people with mild intellectual disability on their family support.MethodTheFNMis designed to explore how individuals define their family contexts, and more specifically how they perceive existing supportive relationships in these contexts.ResultsBy carefully piloting ways of questioning people with mild intellectual disability, systematic adaptations were made to the originalFNM. Data obtained by theFNM‐IDcan be analysed using social network analysis. Thereby, theFNM‐IDprovides rich, theoretically significant information on emotional support in the family networks of individuals with mild intellectual disability.ConclusionsTheFNM‐IDis a useful and successfully adapted tool for other researchers and professionals to systematically explore the family support experiences of individuals with mild intellectual disability.

BackgroundThe purpose of the present study was to add to the literature on the predictive accuracy of a dynamic intellectual disability specific risk assessment tool.MethodA dynamic risk assessment for sexual reoffending (ARMIDILO‐S), a static risk assessment for sexual offending (STATIC‐99), and a static risk assessment for violence (Violence Risk Appraisal Guide [VRAG]) were completed for a sample of 64 adult males with an intellectual disability.ResultsThe dynamic risk assessment for sexual offenders with an intellectual disability resulted in the best prediction of sexual reoffending (ARMIDILO‐S area under the curve (AUC) = 0.92) this was better than an established sexual offending static risk assessment (STATIC‐99 AUC = 0.75). A static tool for violent reoffending, did not perform as well in this group (VRAG AUC = 0.58).ConclusionsResults suggest that dynamic variables are useful in predicting sexual reoffending with individuals with an intellectual disability, confirming previous findings. The ARMIDILO‐S is a promising dynamic risk assessment for individuals with an intellectual disability.

AbstractBackgroundBased on self‐reported social capital, different typologies of family networks of people with intellectual disabilities were examined. Associations between behavioural and emotional problems or well‐being and typologies were investigated.Method137 participants with mild intellectual disability were interviewed using the Family Network Method‐Intellectual Disability to assess their emotionally supportive family relationships. Data on participants' well‐being and behavioural and emotional problems were also gathered. Latent class analysis was used to identify family typologies based on social network measures.ResultsFour distinguishable typologies were identified, two supportive and two less supportive. A small association was found with behavioural and emotional problems and one of the supportive typologies. Associations with constructs of well‐being were found for both supportive and less supportive typologies.ConclusionsA variety of family types were found, with implications for sensitive professional support.