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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.

The need to support a healthy lifestyle among the population has become increasingly apparent in recent years. The National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden has published national guidelines regarding unhealthy lifestyle habits since 2011. An instrument based on the practical and theoretical foundations of occupational therapy was developed to support the profession's unique contribution to implementing these guidelines. The aim was to examine the utility of the instrument by investigating its implementation potential and clinical relevance. Sixteen occupational therapists used the instrument in practice together with 60 clients. Afterwards, they completed a questionnaire covering questions of utility. The instrument demonstrated mostly positive dimensions of utility. The results show that the instrument seems to have a high implementation potential and is clinically relevant. It seems, for example, to support implementation of the national guidelines and to capture how a person's lifestyle habits are expressed in everyday occupations. The instrument further seems to promote people's participation in treatment. The instrument 'Diary-based survey of lifestyle habits in everyday activities and support for the process of change' seems promising in terms of utility. However, the scientific merit of the instrument will need to be further established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Residential Environment Impact Scale (REIS) is an assessment and consulting instrument designed to examine the impact of the residential environment on its residents and to develop recommendations for adapting this environment. Since REIS is new for occupational therapists in Sweden it is important to evaluate its utilization potential. Aim: The aim was to examine the utility of the Swedish version of the Residential Environment Impact Scale (REIS-S) for adults living in residential settings. Material and methods: Twenty-two occupational therapists conducted 28 REIS-S assessments in residential settings including 92 older persons and persons with disabilities. In total, 44 questionnaires were answered before and after conduction of the assessment. The data was analyzed using qualitative methods of analysis. Results: The REIS-S showed both positive and negative dimensions of utility among occupational therapists working in residential settings. It provided support for making recommendations and contributed to effective assessments but was found time-consuming. The clinical relevance with REIS-S was positive since it met the needs expressed by the occupational therapists. Conclusions: REIS-S seems promising according to utility in Swedish residential settings for adults. However, psychometrically testing is required for further establishing the utilization of the instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundMany people ageing with intellectual disabilities (ID) age in place in group homes. Participation is a central concept in support and service to people with ID, but age is often a determining factor for participation among this group. Choice and control are dimensions of participation.AimThe aim of this article is to explore how choice and control in the everyday life of people ageing with ID is expressed and performed in the group home’s semi-private spaces.Material and methodsParticipant observations and interviews with residents and staff were conducted in four different group homes in Sweden that had older residents.ResultsFour categories were found that can be understood as aspects of choice and control in the group home’s semi-private spaces in the everyday life of people ageing with ID. These categories included aspects such as space and object, time and routines, privacy, and a person-centred approach.Conclusion and significancePeople ageing with ID are vulnerable when it comes to maintaining choice and control in various situations in the home’s semi-private spaces. It is argued that occupational therapists should include this occupational arena in their evaluations and interventions for people ageing with ID. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to explore ways in which members of staff in group homes for people with intellectual disability experience participation, and what participation means for older people with intellectual disability. Qualitative interviews were performed with 15 members of staff at group homes in Sweden. The findings of this study are illustrated by considering two interacting themes and six subthemes. These involve staff experiences of the meaning of participation and factors which facilitate or inhibit it. The meaning of participation was expressed as doing and feeling. Staff described that participation for older people with intellectual disability was influenced by the individual characteristics of the residents, such as the relationship between age and disability. They also expressed the view that participation was influenced by organizational and physical contextual factors such as economics, time and space as well as the social environment. The latter included staff knowledge and skills, family and peers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this article is 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. The article is based on a study with a phenomenological approach, grounded on the concept of life-world. Individual, qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 people with ID (five men, seven women), between the ages of 48 and 71 (mean=64), who 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 of the study reveal the informants' lived experience of ageing and later life as a multifaceted phenomenon, expressed through the two themes, ‘age as a process of change’ and ‘existential aspects of ageing’, each with three sub-themes. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Participation is often the comprehensive objective of treatment but also an indication of the extent to which the process of occupational therapy is client-centred. The purpose of this study was to explore levels of participation during occupational therapy among clients in the area of mental health from the occupational therapists' perspectives. Additionally the authors sought to identify factors that might hinder client participation. Postal questionnaires were sent out to 670 Swedish occupational therapists working with persons with mental illness and learning disabilities. The questionnaire required therapists to rate clients' levels of participation during occupational therapy. Findings indicated that the most common level of participation for the clients was interdependent, meaning that problems, goals, and plans were identified jointly and collaboratively with the occupational therapist. However, more than 20% of the clients were described as being dependent. Almost 90% of the occupational therapists rated client participation in therapy to be very important and nearly 70% claimed that client participation in general needed to be increased. Occupational therapists rated the primary barriers to participation as being clients' inability to participate and organizational and financial problems. Implications of these findings for education in client-centred practice approaches are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to describe the psychosocial strengths and challenges related to work among persons with intellectual disabilities. The instrument used for this purpose was the Swedish version of the Worker Role Interview. Thirty people with moderate to mild intellectual disability participated in the study. The findings indicate that the participants have many psychosocial strengths that positively affect their worker role. For most of the participants, work is a highly valued life domain and something to which they feel a commitment. It is also shown that the participants have well-developed work habits and a supportive social environment. The main problem area for some participants was in the area of personal causation. Overall, MOHO and the WRI provided useful concepts and a practical method of assessment for understanding strengths and challenges in persons with intellectual disabilities related to work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]