We assessed the impact and social rating of an active and a passive music condition implemented with six patients with Alzheimer's disease. In the active condition, the patients used a simple hand response and a microswitch to self-regulate music stimulation inputs. In the passive condition, music stimulation was automatically presented throughout…

Multimorbidity (2 or more chronic conditions) is being widely studied in older populations and this study explores both the relevance of emerging conceptualizations and the extent to which multimorbidity is a feature of aging in persons with an intellectual disability. Methods: Data was generated from wave one of the intellectual disability…

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, including autonomic nervous system dysfunctions and severe communication impairment with an extremely limited ability to use verbal language. These individuals are therefore dependent on the capacity of caregivers to observe and interpret communicative signals, including emotional expressions.…

This study assessed technology-aided programs for helping two post-coma persons, who had emerged from a minimally conscious state and were affected by multiple disabilities, to (a) engage with leisure stimuli and request caregiver's procedures, (b) send out and listen to text messages for communication with distant partners, and (c) combine…

Individuals diagnosed with an intellectual disability (ID) share overlapping traits with those diagnosed with both ID and an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if caregivers' reports of symptoms of ASD are of value (i.e., when comparing them to clinical diagnoses of ASD) and to determine which…

Researchers suggest that people with an intellectual disability (ID) undertake less physical activity than the general population and many rely, to some extent, on others to help them to access activities. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model was previously found to significantly predict the intention of care staff to facilitate a healthy…

This paper describes the development of a Quality of Care and Support (QOCS) scale for use with adult persons with physical and intellectual disabilities. In the pilot phase of the study, 12 centers from around the world carried out focus groups with people with physical and disabilities, their carers, and with professionals in order to identify…

Improvements in client-caregiver relationships may lead to improvements in the quality of life of clients with intellectual disabilities (ID). For this reason, interventions aimed at influencing these relationships are important. To gain insight into the nature and intention of these relationships in the ID population, suitable measurement…

A broad range of factors have been identified as having an impact on burnout and performance. To improve our understanding of how these factors interact, a model of carer stress is tested. Staff were surveyed in residential units, assessments included burnout, organizational factors, staff cognitions and ratings of resident challenging behavior.…

The purpose of the present study was to examine psychometric properties of the Staff Behavior toward Clients questionnaire (SBC), a self-report measure for care staff working with children and adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities in residential care. Ninety-nine care staff completed the SBC and the Strengths and…

Few studies have been found that to assess the factors that explain higher levels of family burden in adults with intellectual disability (ID) and intellectual disability and mental disorders (ID-MD). The aims of this study were to assess family burden in people with ID and ID-MD and to determine which sociodemographic, clinical and functional…

The Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life for Children (CP QOL-Child) is the first health condition-specific questionnaire designed for measuring QOL in children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, its construct validity has not yet been confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Hence, this study assessed the construct validity of the caregiver…

Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic condition characterized by a unique neurocognitive and behavioral profile, including increased incidence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceived helpfulness and side effects of medications used to treat ADHD (methylphenidate class,…

This study assessed whether three patients with Alzheimer's disease could learn to use urine alarms and caregivers' prompts to eliminate large urinary accidents. As soon as the patient began to release urine, the alarm system presented auditory and vibratory signals. In relation to those signals, the caregiver would prompt/encourage the patient to…

Staff reactions play an important role in the development and maintaining of clients' challenging behaviour. Because there is a paucity of research on staff reactions in naturalistic settings, this study examined sequential associations between challenging behaviour and staff reactions by means of a descriptive analysis. We analysed video…