A more “normal” life: Residents', family, staff, and managers' experience of active support at a residential facility for people with physical and intellectual impairments

Abstract

Background Active support (AS) has gained popularity as an approach for assisting people with intellectual disability to engage more fully in everyday activities. Although research has identified changes in the extent that residents are engaged in meaningful activities, the experience of stakeholders such as residents, staff, and family in AS is underexplored.

Method A general inductive approach was used to analyse focus group and interview transcripts of residents (n = 4), staff (n = 13), and family (n = 2) about their experience of involvement in an AS pilot project at one residential care facility in New Zealand.

Results Three superordinate themes common to all stakeholders' experiences emerged: “living normal lives,” “caring means doing with,” and “engaging with risk.”

Conclusion Transitioning to AS had been enriching but at times challenging for all stakeholders. Valuing resident autonomy and preparedness for greater exposure to risk are significant considerations in the implementation of AS.

Keywords:

• Active support
• social participation
• intellectual disability
• head injury
• staff development
• consumer experience

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the participants in this study for their generosity in sharing their time and views.

Notes

1. “Coach” is the term used within this facility to describe frontline staff employed either as “rehabilitation coaches” or to implement AS. Rehabilitation coach is a specific role (related to the facility's contracts for services) of supporting residents to complete therapeutic goal-directed activity overseen by allied health therapists. Coach is not a term previously associated with the AS literature; however, it is the term used within this facility in a deliberate attempt to emphasise active, enablement-focused language in describing relationships between residents and staff.

2. In New Zealand, the term “flat” means a “shared house.”

3. The term “flatmate” in New Zealand is equivalent to “roommate” or “housemate.”