Spiritual care for people with intellectual and developmental disability: An exploratory study

Abstract

Sango, P.N. and Forrester-Jones, Rachel (2017) Spiritual care for people with intellectual and developmental disability: an exploratory study.Background: A faith-based (pseudonym, Adam's House-AH) and a non-faith based care service (pseudonym, Greenleaves-GL) were explored to find out if and how spiritual support was provided for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Method:Six months were spent volunteering within each service and a mixed-methods approach was utilised including applied and ethnographic methods to explore and describe if and how spirituality was embedded within the two services. Results:Themes found included community of value; homely functional care; and barriers to spiritual care. GL staff tended to provide what we termed "religious spiritual care" whilst AH staff administered both "religious" and "non-religious spiritual" based support. This difference may be related to the type of training found only at AH which included spiritual dimensions.Conclusion: Services could benefit from acknowledging the importance and significance of spiritual care training and education for effective and varied spiritual care for people with IDD who desire such support.

Spirituality and the Quality of Life of Individuals with Intellectual Disability

“…Yet research (e.g. Turner et al, 2004;Sango and Forrester-Jones, 2017); practice (see Carter, Biggs, and Boehm, 2016;Sango and Forrester-Jones, 2019;Bartelli et al, 2020) and policy (Sango and Forrester-Jones, 2014;Whiting and Gurbai, 2015) indicate that little attention has been paid to this aspect of people's lives; whilst the spiritual rights of children are recognised in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) they do not feature in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (see Whiting and Gurbai, 2015).…”

“…Similarly, the few studies that exist in relation to spirituality and people with ID (see Swinton, 2002 ;Liu, Carter, Boehm, Annandale and Taylor, 2014 and Rambow's 2016 unpublished Master's thesis ) have found that a belief in God or a higher power and participation in religious rituals can provide a framework within which individuals can make sense of their life experiences as well as affording them with a sense of security, acceptance and hope, and providing them with a significant source of comfort and a route to social support networks (see Forrester-Jones et al, 2006;Biggs and Carter, 2016;Sango and Forrester-Jones, 2019 and the doctoral thesis by Bacon, 2021). Carter (2021, 2021a, 2021b) further emphasised how a sense of belonging which is rooted in relationships and characteristics of reciprocal relationships such as love and acceptance (Carter, Biggs and Boehm, 2016;Carter and Bohern, 2019) may be found through participation in shared spiritual practices and congregational activities, Hunter and Kivisto (2019) found strong allegiances to religious faith by young people with ID.…”

Spiritual Healers’ Explanatory Models of Intellectual Disability in Cape Town, South Africa

“…In a similar vein, Sango and Forrester-Jones (2019, p. 150) define spirituality as "faith in the sacred, a personal relationship with a supreme power". Studies investigating spirituality have explored how it is used to understand stressful situations, and to help with coping (Boehm & Carter, 2019;Sango & Forrester-Jones, 2019). Spirituality has also been associated with resilience in families during times of distress (Walsh, 2003).…”

“…Studies that have investigated the role of spirituality for people with ID themselves have reported that, like those without ID, and like other people with disabilities, people with ID have religious and spiritual affiliations which provide meaning and purpose to their lives, and assist them in coping with stressful life events such as loss and mental illness, amongst others (Boehm & Carter, 2019;Markham, 2006;Mugeere et al, 2019;Ndlovu, 2016;Sango & Forrester-Jones, 2019).…”

An Exploratory Study of Attitudes toward Autism Amongst Church-Going Christians in the South East of England, United Kingdom

“…Religious communities have been found to act as conduits to social inclusion and community participation (Sango & Forrester-Jones, 2017). They also foster a sense of belonging, emotional wellbeing and spiritual nourishment (Baumeister & Leary, 1995), with spirituality having been shown to play a meaningful part of disabled people's lives, including autistic people (Turner et al, 2004;Liu et al, 2014).…”