Understanding support workers' competence development in working with parents with intellectual disability

Area of Science:

• Social Work
• Developmental Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Support workers for parents with intellectual disabilities require effective training.
• Understanding support worker perceptions of training is crucial for competence development.
• The evidence-informed 'Parenting Young Children' (PYC) programme aims to enhance parenting skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore Swedish support workers' perceptions of competence development.
• To evaluate the training process of the PYC programme.
• To identify facilitators and barriers in skill development for support workers.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative data from five focus groups with support workers.
• Quantitative data from a competency questionnaire completed by twelve support workers.
• Training involved a workshop, peer support groups, and a programme manual.

Main Results:

• Support workers perceived an improvement in their skills over time.
• Peer support groups were identified as beneficial for knowledge exchange and performance reflection.
• Key challenges included the transfer of learned skills to practice and difficulties in accessing parents.

Conclusions:

• The PYC training programme appears effective in enhancing support worker competence.
• Peer support is a valuable component for ongoing professional development.
• Administrative and technical support are essential for successful implementation and skill transfer.