Providing support for decision making to adults with intellectual disability: Perspectives of family members and workers in disability support services

Abstract

Background: Supporting people with intellectual disability to make decisions is an important issue for policy implementation yet there is little evidence about the practice of providing support.

Method: This study aimed to understand the experiences of family members and disability support workers in providing support to adults with intellectual disability in Victoria, Australia. Twenty-three people drawn from these two groups participated in individual or focus group interviews.

Results: Three major themes emerged from inductive thematic analysis: their ideas about decision support, approaches to support, and challenges they faced. Overall these revolved around juggling rights, practicalities, and risks

Conclusions: This study identified some of the challenges and practical strategies for providing decision support that can be used to inform practice and capacity building resources for supporters.