Staff member perspectives of restrictiveness and freedom enhancement in care units for people with ID

Fleur van Rootselaar, Shanna Klerks, J. Clasien de Schipper

Research output: Contribution to JournalMeeting AbstractAcademic

Abstract

Introduction: In the care for people with disabilities, restrictive
measures are used too often. Studies show that support staff members
differ in their views on what type of measures are restrictive. Less is
known how support staff interpret the restrictiveness of different
measures and to what degree they include the perspectives and aims of
service users. The research question was: How do support staff members
describe and interpret observations of freedom restrictions as well as
solutions to prevent freedom restrictions?
Methods: In a participative action research design, fifteen support
staff members from 15 units in two care organizations in the Netherlands
each carried out two observations in another unit of their organisation.
After each observation, a semi-structured interview took place. Using
Atlas.ti, the transcripts of these interviews were coded to identify themes
and perspectives of the support staff. Peer review took place during open,
axial and selective coding.
Results: During observations, support staff members became more
aware of the perspective of service users and of the restrictiveness of daily
care routines. Furthermore, they observed interactions that promote
freedom of choice. The varying perspectives on the meaning of restrictive
measures will be explored.
Implications: Support staff’s awareness of restrictive measures may
increase through observing care provided by colleagues.
Keywords Restrictive measures, Freedom enhancement, Care units,
Service user perspectives
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)848-848
Number of pages1
JournalJournal of Intellectual Disability Research
Volume63
Issue number7
Early online date27 Jun 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2019

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