The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) states that people have the right to decide where to live and with whom. Professionals play a key role in supporting processes for independent living (IL). This research aimed to identify which ideas generated more or less consensus among professionals regarding the role of different agents involved in the processes of IL in Spain.
Method:
The Delphi method was applied to an expert panel of 25 professionals.
Results:
A high consensus was reached regarding the role that people with intellectual disabilities, their families and their natural support networks play in supporting IL processes, but there was less consensus on the role played by organizations and professionals.
Conclusions:
The study highlights the need to promote practices that favour the decision-making capacity of individuals to move towards models of support based on community and the human rights model.
BatesPDavisF (2004) Social capital, social inclusion and services for people with learning disabilities. Disability & Society19: 195–207.
4.
Beadle-BrownJBigbyCBouldE (2015) Observing practice leadership in intellectual and developmental disability services. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research59(12): 1081–1093.
5.
BenzMRLindstromLYovanoffP (2000) Improving graduation and employment outcomes of students with disabilities: predictive factors and student perspective. Exceptional Children66: 509–529.
6.
BigbyC (2008) Known well by no-one: trends in the informal social networks of middle-aged and older people with intellectual disability five years after moving to the community. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities33(2): 148–157.
7.
BigbyCBowersBWebberR (2011) Planning and decision making about the future care of older group home residents and transition to residential aged care. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research55(8): 777–789.
8.
BjörnsdóttirKStefánsdóttirGVStefánsdóttirA (2015) ‘It’s my life’: autonomy and people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities19(1): 5–21.
9.
BoweyLMcGlaughlinA (2007) Older carers of adults with a learning disability confront the future: issues and preferences in planning. British Journal of Social Work37(1): 39–54.
10.
BoweyLMcGlaughlinASaulC (2005) Assessing the barriers to achieving genuine housing choice for adults with a learning disability: the views of family carers and professionals. British Journal of Social Work35(1): 139–148.
11.
DodevskaGAVassosMV (2013) What qualities are valued in residential direct care workers from the perspective of people with an intellectual disability and managers of accommodation services?Journal of Intellectual Disability Research57: 601–615.
12.
DugganCLinehanC (2013) The role of ‘natural supports’ in promoting independent living for people with disabilities; a review of existing literature. British Journal of Learning Disabilities41(3): 199–207.
13.
EleyDSBoyesJYoungL, et al. (2009) Accommodation needs for carers of and adults with intellectual disability in regional Australia: their hopes for and perceptions for the future. Rural and Remote Health9(3): 1239. Available at: www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/1239 (accessed 7 April 2017).
14.
FletcherAJMarchildonGP (2014). Using the Delphi method for qualitative, participatory action research in health leadership. International Journal of Qualitative Methods13(1): 1–18.
15.
Forrester-JonesRCarpenterJCoolen-SchrijnerP, et al. (2006) The social networks of people with intellectual disability living in the community 12 years after resettlement from long-stay hospitals. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disability19(4): 285–295.
16.
FRA – European Union Agency For Fundamental Rights (2012) Choice and control: the right to independent living. Experiences of persons with intellectual disabilities and persons with mental health problems in nine EU Member States. DOI: 10.2811/88538. Available at: http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/2129-FRA-2012-choice-and-control_EN.pdf (accessed 25 March 2017).
17.
FranklinKKHartJK (2007) Idea generation and exploration benefits and limitations of the policy Delphi research method. Innovative Higher Education31(4): 237–246.
18.
García IriarteEStockdaleJMcConkeyR, et al. (2016) The role of support staff as people move from congregated settings to group homes and personalized arrangements in Ireland. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities20(2): 152–164.
19.
GorfinLMcGlaughlinA (2004) Planning for the future with adults with a learning disability living with older carers. Housing, Care and Support7(3): 20–24.
20.
GreenRA (2014) The Delphi technique in educational research. SAGE Open4(2): 1–8.
21.
HattonCWighamSCraigJ (2009) Developing measures of job performance for support staff in housing services for people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities22: 54–64.
22.
HawkinsRRedleyMHollandAJ (2011) Duty of care and autonomy: how support workers managed the tension between protecting service users from risk and promoting their independence in a specialist group home. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research55(9): 873–884.
23.
HsuCStandfordBA (2007) The Delphi technique: making sense of consensus. Practical Assessment Research and Evaluation12(10): 1–8. Available at: http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=12&n=10
24.
HungHLAltschuldJWLeeY (2008) Methodological and conceptual issues confronting a cross-country Delphi study of educational program evaluation. Evaluation and Program Planning31: 191–198.
KleinJ (2000) Ayudar a Las Personas Con Discapacidad a Vivir En Un Hogar Propio [Helping People With Disability to Live in Their Own Home]. Barcelona: FCSD [In Spanish].
27.
KnoxMHicksonF (2001) The meaning of close friendship: the views of four people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities14(3): 276–291.
28.
López-GómezE (2018) El método Delphi en la investigación actual en educación: Una revisión teórica y metodológica. [The Delphi method in current educational research: a theoretical and methodological review]. Educación XX12(1): 17–40[In Spanish].
29.
McConkeyRCollinsS (2010) The role of support staff in promoting the social inclusion of persons with an intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research54(8): 691–700.
30.
McConkeyRKeoghFBuntingB, et al. (2016) Relocating people with intellectual disability to new accommodation and support settings: contrasts between personalized arrangements and group home placements. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities20(2): 109–120.
31.
McGlaughlinAGorfinLSaulC (2004) Enabling adults with learning disabilities to articulate their housing needs. British Journal of Social Work34(5) 709–726.
32.
PalliseraMVilàMFullanaJ, et al. (2018) Proposals for improving the transition process of young people with intellectual disabilities in Spain: insights from focus groups of professionals, young people and their families. European Journal of Special Needs Education33(3) 287–301.
33.
PeraltaFArellanoA (2010) Familia y discapacidad. Una perspectiva teórico-aplicada del Enfoque Centrado en la Familia para promover la autodeterminación. [Family and disability. A theoretical-applied perspective of the Family Centered Approach to promote self-determination]. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology8(3): 1339–1362 [In Spanish].
Real Decreto Legislativo (2013) Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2013, de 29 de noviembre, por el que se aprueba el Texto Refundido de la Ley General de derechos de las personas con discapacidad y de su inclusión social, [Royal Legislative Decree 1/2013, of 29 November, approving the Consolidated Text of the General Law on the rights of persons with disabilities and their social inclusion]Boletín Oficial del Estado289 § 12632 (2013) [In Spanish].
36.
ShawKCartwrightCCraigJ (2011) The housing and support needs of people with an intellectual disability into older age. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research22(9): 895–903.
37.
SheldenDStoreyK (2014) Social life. In: StoreyKHunterD (eds) The Road Ahead. Amsterdam: IOS Press, pp. 233–254.
38.
SmallNRaghavanRPawsonN (2013) An ecological approach to seeking and utilising the views of young people with intellectual disabilities in transition planning. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities17(4): 283–300.
39.
TøssebroJBonfilsISTeittinenA, et al. (2012) Normalization fifty years beyond: current trends in the Nordic countries. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities9(2): 134–146.
40.
TownsleyRWardLAbbottD, et al. (2010) The Implementation of Policies Supporting Independent Living for Disabled People in Europe: Synthesis Report. Report,Norah Fry Research Centre, University of Bristol, UK.
41.
TurnbullATurnbullHErwinE, et al. (2006) Families, Professionals, and Exceptionality. Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships and Trust. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, Merrill Prentice Hall.
VerdonschotMMLDe WitteLPReichrathE, et al. (2009) Community participation of people with an intellectual disability: a review of empirical findings. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research53(4): 303–318.
44.
VerdugoMAJenaroCCampoM (2009) ANED country report on the implementation of policies supporting independent living for disabled people. Country: Spain. Report for the Academic Network of European Disability expert, Human European Consultancy and University of Leeds. May 2009. Available at: https://www.disability-europe.net/downloads/273-aned-independent-living-report-spain (accessed 20 January 2017).
45.
WarkSHussainREdwardsH (2013) Rural and remote area service provision for people aging with intellectual disability. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities10(1): 62–70.
46.
XuTDempseyIForemanP (2014) Views of Chinese parents and transition teachers on school-to-work transition services for adolescents with intellectual disability: a qualitative study. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability39(4): 342–352.
