Background: Active Support is a staff practice that aims to increase engagement of people with intellectual disabilities. This study seeks to: (1) identify the outcomes of staff using Active Support and how these are measured; (2) identify how the views of people with intellectual disabilities have been included in Active Support research. Method:…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are less physically active and suffer from ill-health more than the general population. Support staff play an important role in the person's life. This study aimed to explore the support staff's experiences regarding the feasibility of adapted web-based exercise for people with intellectual…

Background: Mealtime support has a direct bearing on the diet-related health of men and women with intellectual disabilities as well as opportunities for expressing dietary preferences. Method: Semi-structured interviews with a sample of direct support staff providing mealtime support to adults with intellectual disabilities. Results: When…

Background: To 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. Method: Six individuals with mild intellectual disability, living in community-based settings, were interviewed following a…

Background: Group home frontline staff have a critical role in implementing service policies, yet research typically examines implementation issues from an organisational perspective. The aim of this study was to explore the self-perception of frontline staff about their role in group homes for people with intellectual disability. Method:…

Promoting community participation for people with intellectual disability through encounter with strangers is an integral part of the mission of disability support workers. This paper offers detailed micro-level analysis of the practices of support workers when they accompany a person with intellectual disability outside their home and explores…

Background: Previous research has suggested that severity of intellectual disability (ID) and topography of behaviour may influence staff causal attributions regarding challenging behaviour. Subsequently, these causal attributions may influence helping behaviours. This study investigated the relationship between attributions of control over…

Background: The use of physical restraints has generated immense controversy in the delivery of services to individuals with intellectual disabilities. The current "zeitgeist" is that effective positive approaches obviate the need for using physical restraints. In a multiple baseline design, we sought to assess how training staff members in…

Background: Typically people with intellectual disability have small, highly restricted social networks characterized by interactions with other people with intellectual disabilities, family members, and paid workers. The goal of "inclusion" has been central to policies that have shaped services over the past 30 years. It is an ill…