A quality of life supports model: Six research-focused steps to evaluate the model and enhance research practices in the field of IDD.
Follow the six-step QOLSM checklist to run cleaner, faster QOL studies in IDD services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Adams et al. (2021) wrote a how-to paper for researchers.
They list six clear steps to test any Quality-of-Life Supports Model (QOLSM) program for people with IDD.
The steps are: operationalize, align, gather evidence, interpret, implement, judge.
No new data were collected; the paper is a roadmap.
What they found
The team did not run a study with participants.
Instead they gave a checklist so future studies can be rigorous and uniform.
How this fits with other research
Branford (1997) drew the first six-domain QOL picture. Adams et al. (2021) turn that picture into a six-step lab recipe.
Tichá et al. (2023) show the recipe in action. They tracked 3 years of Pennsylvania IDD data using a similar stepwise plan and found mixed but useful trends.
Verdugo et al. (2024) narrate six historical eras of QOL work. The 2021 six-step protocol sits at the newest era, so it updates earlier ideas rather than conflicts with them.
Why it matters
If you evaluate or fund QOL programs for adults with IDD, use these six steps as your standard script. The checklist keeps teams consistent, makes studies easier to compare, and speeds up peer review. Print the steps, stick them on your project board, and require every new grant proposal to follow them.
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Add the six-step headings to your next program evaluation plan before you collect baseline data.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
In the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) the constructs of quality of life and supports have been combined into a Quality of Life Supports Model (QOLSM) that is currently used internationally for supports provision, organization transformation, and systems change. With the model's increasing and widespan use in research and practice, there is a need to evaluate the model's impact at the individual, organization, and systems levels. The purpose of this article is to outline six specific research-focused evaluation steps that allow researchers to evaluate the model and thereby enhance research practices is the field of IDD. These steps involve: (1) operationalizing components of the QOLSM; (2) relating QOLSM components to the type of research planned and intended outcome indicators; (3) gathering evidence and establishing its credibility; (4) interpreting and communicating the results; (5) implementing research outcomes at the level of the microsystem, mesosystem and macrosystem; and (6) judging the impact of the model. These steps delineate a research framework that is based on a systematic approach to evidence-based practices and enhanced research practices in the field of IDD.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104112