ABSTRACT
Introduction
Like the broader population, people with intellectual disability (ID) experience the process of grief after loss of a loved one. However, there are a series of risk factors characteristic of this population that can hinder the development of adaptive grief, including cognitive and affective aspects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief intervention program in people with ID to improve understanding of the concept of death, the grief processes, and adaptive attitudes.
Method
A mixed method design that included a controlled, randomized research design, was used. A total of 38 people with ID participated. The variables measured were: grief, biological and cognitive concept of death.
Results
The program significantly increased understanding in two dimensions of the concept of death, Inevitability and Universality, and demonstrated a greater understanding and healthier attitudes regarding death and grief.
Conclusions
It is recommended that, in future research studies, education on death be worked as early as possible in people with ID, in order to prevent future pathological grief.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the professionals and the families of the VALE association for their participation in this research.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Author Contributions
María Inmaculada Fernández Ávalos: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Data Curation, Writing-Original draft preparation. Manuel Fernández Alcántara: Visualization, Supervision, Writing–review & editing. Francisco Cruz Quintana: Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Oliver Turnbull: Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Rosario Isabel Ferrer Cascales: Supervision, Writing – review & editing. María Nieves Pérez Marfil: Data Curation, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.