Suchergebnisse

BackgroundProviding long‐term care to an adult relative with intellectual disability can impact negatively on caregivers' health and well‐being.MethodsData were collected via online and postal questionnaires on 110 family carers' physical and psychological health, family stress and perceived positive gains from caring. Psychological adaptation and carers' satisfaction with available support were also examined.ResultsStudy participants reported more health problems than general populations. Higher support needs of care recipients were associated with increased family stress. Carers being female were associated with lower family stress. Older age and better socio‐economic position were associated with better psychological outcomes. Other associations were consistent with psychological adaption and perceived helpfulness of support buffering negative outcomes and facilitating positive gains from caring.ConclusionsFamily carers of adults with intellectual disability appear to experience poorer health outcome than population norms. Adaption to the caregiving role may buffer negative outcomes. Further large scale, population‐based, longitudinal research is needed.

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.