The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore styles of engagement used by families with staff in long-term care facilities. Data were gathered through personal interviews with 35 family members. Five styles of engagement were identified: positive, negative, peremptory, cautious, and limited. Factors associated with these different styles…

Gestures unaccompanied by sound risk not being registered by their intended recipient. We chart examples of this in a video recording of a meeting between people with intellectual disabilities and support staff. The recordings reveal that individuals with limited spoken language can, and do, design nonvocal gestures to make intelligible…

Objective: This qualitative study examined stakeholders' perceptions of the safety of youth ages 12 and older living in congregate care facilities within the New York City foster care system. The study explored the youth's physical safety, the safety of their personal belongings, the physical conditions of congregate care settings, and the…

Purpose: The Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA) curriculum was developed as an adjunct to other educational initiatives that were part of Ontario, Canada's Alzheimer Strategy. GPA emphasizes that an individual's unique personal history has a direct application to the interpretation of and response to their behavior. It incorporates strategies into…

Purpose: To better understand the experiences and potential unmet need of persons who die in long-term care. Design and Methods: We conducted after-death interviews with staff who had cared for 422 decedents with dementia and 159 who were cognitively intact and received terminal care in U.S. nursing homes (NHs) or residential care-assisted living…

Background: Intensive Interaction is an approach to developing the pre-verbal communication and sociability of people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities and autism. Previous research has indicated many potential benefits; however, the approach is not consistently used in social care. Aim: To report on the significant and…

Background: An important question in community living is what factors influence the extent to which staff provide "active support". Methods: Engagement, care practices and a range of staff and organizational characteristics were studied in 72 residential homes serving 359 adults with intellectual disabilities. Managers in 36 settings were trained…

Two music programs were developed specifically to meet therapeutic objectives for newly arrived immigrant and refugee students and for adolescent boys in a residential care facility. The author's observations justify further research to establish whether music can support and nurture the social, physical and mental wellbeing of young people,…

Young people with learning disabilities are significantly more at risk of developing mental health difficulties than their non-disabled peers, with prevalence rates of around 40% commonly reported. Nevertheless, high levels of mental health problems also exist among young people living in state care. However, few studies have examined the mental…

Purpose: We designed this study to examine the end-of-life (EOL) experience in long-term care (LTC) based on input from key stakeholders. Design and Methods: The study consisted of 10 homogeneous focus groups drawn from a purposive sample of LTC residents (2 groups; total n = 11), family caregivers (2 groups; total n = 19), paraprofessional staff…

Background: UK policies aim to facilitate access to general psychiatric services for adults with intellectual disability (ID). If this is to be achieved, it is important to have a clear idea of the characteristics and proportion of people with ID who currently access specialist psychiatric services and the nature and extent of psychiatric…

This research examined goal attainment as it is related to client stability in the process of counseling adolescents admitted to a crisis residence. Data were collected from licensed master's-level clinicians treating adolescent clients admitted to an acute care psychiatric program at 1 of 2 hospitals located in the mid-South. There was a…

Earlier evidence was not conclusive about whether hearing loss is associated with mood (i.e., depressive symptoms and anhedonia) and social engagement (i.e., reduced psychosocial involvement and reduced activity levels) in elderly residents living in complex continuing-care facilities. If hearing impairment results in poor mood and lower levels of…

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by adults with learning disabilities has been positively promoted over the past decade. More recently, policy statements and guidance from the UK government have underlined the importance of ICT for adults with learning disabilities specifically, as well as for the population in general,…

Background: An investigation of the clinical morbidity and genetic profiles of individuals with Prader?Willi syndrome (PWS) in Western Australia (WA) was undertaken as part of a wider study into the effects of intellectual disability (ID) on the life course of individuals. Methods: All persons with a diagnosis of PWS were identified from the…