Spirituality and the Quality of Life of Individuals with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Context: Spirituality seems to form part of person-centred care planning and needs assessment of persons with intellectual disability. Yet, the role of spiritually in relation to their quality of life (QoL) has scarcely been investigated.Objective: This paper reports on an exploration of the extent to which spiritual belief and practice was linked to individuals' perception of quality of life in two types of care servicesone a faith-based provider, the other a non-faith based service.Method: A mixed-methods approach utilising the Quality Of Life Questionnaire (QOLQ) and the a brief spiritual beliefs inventory for use in quality of life research (Systems of Belief Inventory -15R) was used to interview people with intellectual disabilities (or, if they lacked capacity, their formal carers) who lived in their respective service for a long time.Findings: Participants living in the faith-based care service recorded higher mean and median scores on the QOLQ compared to their colleagues who resided in the non-faith based care service. Further analysis indicated significant correlations between the spirituality measure and most of the QOLQ domains. Limitations:The study sample of 36 makes generalisations difficult and our initial intention to include a range of faith traditions were unsuccessful.Implications: Further academic studies exploring spiritual issues for people with intellectual disabilities are needed, as well as clearer policy and practice guidelines and a willingness on the part of services to support this aspect of life.

Thousands of Glittering Shards: Spirituality as Resonance in the Lives of People with Intellectual Disabilities

“…Although sample sizes in these studies tend to be small (<50 participants), in the work of Shogren and Rye (2005) 76% of the adults they interviewed with intellectual disabilities reported attending worship services and the majority confirmed that they believed in God and used positive coping strategies. Sango and Forrester-Jones (2022) discovered that participants valued the psychological benefits of church attendance and spiritual practices as well. "These practices not only enable individuals to connect with family and friends but also to connect with .…”