An intervention using the Parenting Toolkit “Children—What does it involve?” and the Real‐Care‐Baby simulator among students with intellectual disability—A feasibility study

Abstract

Background There is limited knowledge about how young people with intellectual disability can be facilitated in their process of deciding about parenthood. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of an upcoming trial to evaluate an intervention using the Toolkit “Children—what does it involve?” and the “Real‐Care‐Baby” (RCB) simulator among students with intellectual disability. Methods Six students with intellectual disability participated in an intervention with eight educational sessions and a 3‐day caring session with the RCB simulator. Data were collected with questionnaires and interviews. Results The study showed that it is possible to evaluate an intervention using these instruments among students with intellectual disability in order to provide them with further insights about parenthood. Conclusion It is feasible to evaluate the Toolkit and the RCB in a cluster‐randomized study and that such a study could add to our knowledge about possible intervention strategies regarding reproduction and parenting among students with intellectual disability.

How can sexual and reproductive health and rights be enhanced for young people with intellectual disability? – focus group interviews with staff in Sweden

“…Even though sexuality education is mandatory in the Swedish school system, evaluations have shown that the quality sometimes is sub-standard [31]. The staff suggested more interactive and hands-on education with adapted tools, in line with a recently published pilot study [32], where an adapted toolkit "Childrenwhat does it involve?" and a Real Care Baby simulator were used.…”

A school‐based intervention can promote insights into future parenting in students with intellectual disabilities—A Swedish interview study

“…Moreover, these studies have demonstrated the importance of providing real experiences in parenting skills to complement adapted knowledge as a basis for informed decisions and insights. A previous school‐based pilot study found that adapted knowledge about parenting can be combined with actual experiences in caring for a Real‐Care‐Baby (RCB) simulator and the combination can be used for people with ID (Janeslätt, Larsson, Wickström, Springer, & Höglund, 2019).…”

“…No study (except the pilot study by Janeslätt et al., 2019) has evaluated the RCB simulator in young individuals with ID. Using an RCB simulator was a way to give young persons with ID concrete experiences of the basic needs of a child.…”

“…This educational material was referred to as the parenting Toolkit “Children‐what does it involve?” In Janeslätt et al. (2019), the same parenting Toolkit was used to provide students with ID adapted knowledge while the RCB simulator was applied to provide experiences of caring. In the pilot study, six students (age 17–20 years) in special upper secondary school for students with ID received eight educational sessions during school hours, which were combined with a caring session with the RCB simulator for 3 days and nights at home.…”

“…In the pilot study, six students (age 17–20 years) in special upper secondary school for students with ID received eight educational sessions during school hours, which were combined with a caring session with the RCB simulator for 3 days and nights at home. The findings indicated a positive experience of the intervention, new insights into the challenges associated with parenthood, a low overall performance in caring for the RCB simulator but without interfering with the students’ general sense of self‐efficacy (Janeslätt et al., 2019).…”