Setting up a new team of support staff for people with mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual...

Studies about teams of staff supporting people with intellectual disability have focused on team performance of existing teams. This study aimed to examine important factors in the process of setting up a new team of support staff. Specifically, we considered the process for a team that supports service users with mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning who display severe challenging behaviour from the orthopedagogical perspective (i.e., with a focus on contextual factors).

Three participant groups (service users, support staff, and professionals supporting a team) participated in a concept mapping procedure, including generating statements in interviews and focus groups, sorting, and rating. An expert group interpreted the results.

Important factors to one or more groups were: service users and support staff getting acquainted early, team safety, social support, a shared vision, and a positive reputation of the new home.

Four core outcomes were addressed that may help service organisations to provide an environment matching the needs of service users who show severe challenging behaviour from the start.