Efforts to increase social contact in persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: Analysing individual support plans in the Netherlands

Abstract

Most people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) have limited social contact and it is unclear what is done to maintain or increase these contacts. Individual support planning (ISP) can be used in the systematic enhancement of social contacts. This study analyses the content of ISPs with respect to the social contacts of people with PIMD. ISPs for 60 persons with PIMD in the Netherlands were inductively coded and illustrated with quotations. It turned out that every ISP contained information about social contacts. Of all the quotations extracted, 71.2% were about current conditions, 6.2% were about the future and less than 1% concerned actual goals. The social contacts of people with PIMD are mentioned in their ISPs, but this is rarely translated into goals. The results of the current study suggest that attention should be paid to ensuring that professionals understand the importance of social contacts and their application in practice.

Exploring spontaneous interactions between people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and their peers

“…If optimal conditions for interaction are created by positioning peers in such a way that interaction is possible and if this interaction is further stimulated, we assume that the number of interactions would increase. In a study of the content of support plans for people with PIMD (Kamstra, van der Putten, & Vlaskamp, 2016), it was shown that goals related to creating or increasing interaction with peers are lacking. Furthermore, while DSPs could describe interactive behaviours, they also stated that interactive behaviour between peers was non-existent.…”

Effects of Disability Type on the Association between Age and Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors among Elderly Persons with Disabilities in Shanghai, China

“…In our study, we identified some differences in the associations between age and NCD risk factors after classifying the elderly according to disability types. For example, no significant associations between age and the risks of hypertension and hyperglycemia were observed among elderly subjects with multiple disabilities, who generally tend to have a poor capacity for self-care ability and a poor health status [ 21 ]. Moreover, compared to subjects with single disabilities, elderly persons with multiple disabilities are more severely affected by their physiological deficiencies and environmental factors and are severely restricted with respect to exercise and other behaviors that can reduce the risks of NCDs, regardless of age.…”

“I hope I’ll outlive him”: A qualitative study of parents’ concerns about being outlived by their child with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

“…However, people with PIMD have a growing life expectancy and the chance that they outlive their parents increases (Kamstra et al, 2017), something that has been acknowledged for a longer time for people with less severe disabilities (Braddock, 2002). Studies on future care plans of families with a child with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in general, have shown that parents have concerns about being possibly outlived by their child with IDD (Bibby, 2013;Bigby, 2000).…”