What activities individuals with intellectual disabilities do for fun: exploration into self-care

Abstract

Participation in enjoyable activities is instrumental to improving individuals’ quality of life. Previous studies have indicated engagement in community-based activities and physical exercise are beneficial to individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). The purpose of this study was to understand, from their perceptions, fun activities in which individuals with ID engaged. One hundred and sixty-nine participants with ID provided 561 responses, which described what they do for fun. A multidisciplinary research team utilized a Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) approach to differentiate responses into a list of categories that fit into six central domains. Domains (with frequency of responses) included: Community and Relationship Building Activities (130), Sports and Other Physical Activities (123), Technology and Gaming (105), Music and Other Preforming Arts (69), Mentally-Stimulating Activities (51), and Categories Outside of a Domain (82). These findings indicate that individuals with ID have a variety of interests. Our discussion, which reviews literature on individuals with and without ID, suggests similar leisure activity engagement among both groups. This literature also suggests individuals with ID experience similar benefits to their peers without ID when engaging in leisure activities. Our results provide a framework to explore self-care routines that can improve quality of life for individuals with ID.

Keywords:

• intellectual disability
• leisure
• self-care
• quality of life
• activities
• well-being

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Phillip Suess for his support with initial database creation and Sarah Palmer for her review of previous versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Support and funding for this study came from the county Departments of Human Services in Allegheny, Greene, and Washington Counties.