Partnership with social care professionals as a context for promoting self-determination among people with intellectual disabilities.
Treat adults with ID as partners, not patients—ask first, direct second.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Cudré-Mauroux et al. (2020) ran focus groups with adults who have intellectual disabilities. They asked how staff talk and work with them every day.
The team also interviewed the social-care staff. They wanted to see which conversation styles helped adults make their own choices.
What they found
Residents said self-determination grew when staff used a partnership style. This means staff ask, listen, and negotiate instead of giving orders.
Simple swaps work: say 'What do you feel like cooking?' instead of 'We are making pasta.' The adults felt respected and took more initiative.
How this fits with other research
Older single-case studies already proved that choice boosts engagement. Dougherty et al. (1994) showed adults worked harder when they could pick preferred tasks. Matson et al. (1994) saw problem behavior drop when students chose classroom activities. Annick’s qualitative data now echo the same theme in residential care.
Libero et al. (2016) scoping review warned the field has no shared definition of participation. The current study answers that call by painting a clear picture of partnership in action.
Ghaziuddin et al. (1996) found supported employment beats day services for adult engagement. Annick adds the how: engagement rises when staff share control, whether at work or at home.
Why it matters
You can shift your own style today. Start one interaction per shift by asking the resident’s goal, offer two real options, and agree on the next step. This tiny change costs no money and builds the self-determination your data sheets can’t capture.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disabilities who live in residential facilities may need social support to express self determination. Relationships with social care professionals provide an important context for promoting self-determination. Adopting a socioecological perspective, our study aimed to better understand the nature of these relationships. METHOD: Over a period of ten months, we held 13 focus group discussions with a total of 20 participants, including both residents and staff at facilities for people with intellectual disabilities. Using transcripts of these discussions, we analysed expressions of self-determination among people with intellectual disabilities and the responses of social care professionals. RESULTS: Our results highlight the importance of relational adjustment in fostering self-determination among people with intellectual disabilities and underline the importance of respective roles within relationships between people with intellectual disabilities and social care professionals. CONCLUSION: The partnership between people with intellectual disabilities and professionals seems to be the most effective type of relationship in order to support the self-determination of people with intellectual disabilities. This paper provides a fresh perspective on the role played by people with intellectual disabilities in their relationships with social care professionals. By engaging people with intellectual disabilities as partners in fostering self-determination, social care professionals can encourage social participation and feelings of empowerment. Relationships based on partnership offer people with intellectual disabilities a form of hetero-regulation that can help them overcome challenges to behaving in a fully self-determined way. However, partnership also requires changes in professional practices and attitudes.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2020 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103602