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Community housing services adopt care models such as rehabilitation, recovery-oriented care and person-centered planning to improve the quality of life of service users with an intellectual or psychiatric disability. However, the way these care models are implemented and practiced can negatively impact service users' experience with the service as their complex needs go unmet. In this paper, we conceptualize these experiences through developing the counternarrative of burdens of support. For this we draw on burden of treatment theory. We conducted ethnographic fieldwork in a community service organization in the Netherlands. This included participant observation (84 h), interviews with service users (n = 20), experts-by-experience (n = 8), family members (n = 10) and photovoice workshops. Our analysis identifies four burdens of support: burden of self-determination; re-identification; responsibilisation and re-placement. The results show that burden of support is very much a relational concept: through their support, professionals can aggravate or alleviate burden. People with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities often receive support with living in the community. Good support fits people's needs (e.g. person-centered planning), builds on people's strengths and contributes to recovery and community participation. Even when support is practiced or organized with such aims, service users can have negative experiences. In this research we call this: 'burden of support'. Examples of burden of support identified include: Clients' needs and wishes are sometimes not sufficiently attended too when working with a personal care plan. Too much responsibility is sometimes shifted to clients, which results in feelings of failing or abandonment. The focus on strengths and recovery sometimes leaves too little room for clients to voice support needs. Having to move to a different home or neighborhood as part of becoming more independent can result in many difficulties including loneliness. The research recommended that those who improve services should also alleviate these burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Self-reliance and social participation are strongly promoted by social policy. Both concepts are linked to the concept of vulnerability, for people who do not meet these standards are labelled "vulnerable people". In this paper, the insider's perspective takes central stage by seeking to explore what it means to be labelled a "vulnerable person", and through this to further our insight into the meaning of the concept of vulnerability. Method: Thirty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 allegedly vulnerable people. The data were subjected to thematic content analysis. Results: Our analysis revealed three main dimensions and eight sub-dimensions of perceived vulnerability, outlining an insider's concept of vulnerability. This concept includes manifestations of vulnerability, feelings coexisting with vulnerability, and the image of vulnerable people. Conclusion: The perception of vulnerability changes when interacting with others in society, especially with social policy implementers. In this interaction, the perceived vulnerability increases and becomes societal vulnerability. It concerns a dependency situation in which one's strength and self-determination are not recognized, and the help needed is not provided. By acknowledging the insider's perspective, social policy can fulfil a more empowering role towards "vulnerable people" and contribute to people's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The potential of service robots for seniors is given increasing attention as the ageing population in Western countries will continue to grow as well as the demand for home care. In order to capture the experience of living with a robot at home, a multi-perspective evaluation was conducted. Methods: Older adults (n = 10) were invited to execute an actual interaction scenario with the Care-O-bot® robot in a home-like environment and were questioned about their experiences. Additionally, interviews were conducted with the elderly participants, informal carers (n = 7) and professional caregivers (n = 11). Results: Seniors showed to be more keen to accept the robot than their caregivers and relatives. However, the robot in its current form was found to be too limited and participants wished the robot could perform more complex tasks. In order to be acceptable a future robot should execute these complex tasks based on the personal preferences of the user which would require the robot to be flexible and extremely smart, comparable to the care that is delivered by a human carer. Conclusions: Developing the functional features to perform activities is not the only challenge in robot development that deserves the attention of robot developers. The development of social behaviour and skills should be addressed as well. This is possible adopting a person-centred design approach, which relies on validation activities with actual users in realistic environments, similar to those described in this paper. Implications for rehabilitation: Attitude of older adults towards service robots Potential of service robotsfor older adults [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of growing international concern for a narrowing view of early literacy, this study was initiated to determine how teachers of four-year-olds view their task of fostering early literacy. This paper reports on the first steps to design and validate an instrument which captures teachers’ perceptions of early literacy content goals; developmentally appropriate and effective pedagogical practices related to each content goal; and their own competencies to offer a suitable environment for developing early literacy. The content validity of the instrument was evaluated by an expert screening; the reliability and practicality of the instrument were assessed through a pilot study involving 20 teachers from 2 countries. Validation findings indicate that the instrument appears to be reliable. The findings from the pilot run show that teachers focus on decoding skills most; there is some attention to book orientation and understanding, and relatively little to the functions of written language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]