Client participation: increasing opportunities for severely mentally handicapped adults

Abstract

It is very important for severely mentally handicapped people to use the skills that they have and to be helped to expand these skills. Being given more opportunities for participation helps severely handicapped people lead more ordinary and happier lives.This article describes ways in which staff of residential and day accommodation for severely mentally handicapped adults can give their clients more opportunities to participate actively in everyday aspects of life such as cooking, cleaning, recreation, gardening and shopping. Ways of organising staff, providing age-appropriate activities, and encouraging even the most severely handicapped to participate are also discussed.Porterfield, J., Blunden, R. Establishing an activity period and individual skill training within a day setting for profoundly mentally handicapped adults. 1. Practical A pproaches 10

Long‐term maintenance of staff and resident behaviour in a hospital ward for adults with mental handicaps: Report of a six‐year follow‐up

“…However, it is the view of the authors that the development of activity period procedures will need to take place alongside other service improvements. In the setting studied here, these other service improvements might include: the introduction of a system of individual plans (see, for example, Blunden, Evans, and Humphreys, 1987), building on the individual reviews already held on the ward; increasing opportunities for residents to use community facilities (including shops, leisure, transport, education, and work) singly or in small groups; the introduction of age-appropriate clothing, forms of address, materials, and activities; perhaps including the use of electronic equipment, craft materials, and a range of domestic and leisure activities (Porterfield, 1982;IDC, 1985). This study, then, suggests that it is possible to maintain new staff practices over a period of six years.…”

Achieving change in special needs units

“…When activity periods were introduced in these settings for one hour per day the level of client engagement in appropriate activities rose dramatically, from just over 30 per cent to over 80 per cent. Porterfield (1982) took this a stage further by suggesting that activity periods be extended to cover the whole day so that individual training of clients could occur, while those not involved in any such specific activity could join in group activities.…”