Background: Despite awareness of the health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disability, their health status remains poor. Inequalities in health outcomes are manifest in higher morbidity and rates of premature death. Contributing factors include the barriers encountered in accessing and receiving high-quality health care.…

Background: For decades, the field of quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities has focused on the improving the external life conditions. However, scarce research has examined the contribution of person-related psychological resources such as emotional competence (EC) on well-being in this population. Materials and Methods: Using…

Background: Studies of people with developmental disabilities suggest that participation in leisure activities might be a key factor for good quality of life. This study explores the relationships between objective and subjective quality of life and leisure participation of adults with developmental disabilities. Materials and Methods: A…

Background: The benefits of being in employment are well documented; however, underemployment is a critical issue for people with intellectual disability (ID). Some individuals perceive themselves as being in employment when in fact they are attending a non-work site such as a day service. The impact that this perception of employment has on other…

Background: Increased provision of out-of-family residential support is required because of demographic changes within the intellectual disabilities population. Residential support now has to be provided in a climate requiring both financial constraint and high quality service outcomes. The aim was to evaluate the quality of life consequences of…

Background: Quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities has been reported in the research literature across differing demographics. There has been, however, little research that has examined in-depth the experiences of women with intellectual disabilities aged 40 years or older. Materials and methods: Fifty-five women from Sydney,…

Background: Previous research has found that active support is effective at increasing levels of participation in activities and supporting a good quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities. However, there has been little research on the effect of active support on other outcome measures. Methods: This study uses observational…

Background: This study analyzes the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL-Q; Quality of Life Questionnaire Manual--1993 Manual and 2004 Revision. 2004, IDS Publishing Company, Worthington, OH; Schalock & Keith 2004). Method: The analysis of the factorial structure was carried out on a sample of…

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the current status of end-of-life care and dying of people with intellectual disability based on the experiences of staff in community living services. Materials and Methods: Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted, guided by grounded theory methodology. Results: The current status of…

Background: The quality of life of adults with intellectual disabilities living in the family home is an under-researched area. The current study compared indicators of household and community activity between adults living in family homes and those in out-of-family placements. Methods: Four datasets were merged to produce information on the…

Background: The aim of the study was to determine neurological and neuropsychiatric manifestations in a group of patients with previously undiagnosed or untreated phenylketonuria (PKU) in the south-eastern part of Poland. Methods: The study was conducted among 400 adults with severe intellectual disability who were born prior to neonatal screening…

Background: Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) is a relatively common problem for people with intellectual disabilities and it is known to be associated with various risk markers, such as degree of disability, sensory impairments, and autism (McClintock "et al." 2003). Less is known about its long-term course however. Method: The present study was…

Background: Adults with severe challenging behaviour can achieve good "quality of life" outcomes in small supported accommodation services. Yet, the research indicates that they typically experience poorer outcomes than other adults with intellectual disability. This raises questions about the degree to which research has informed program design…

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life consequences arising from the resettlement of adults with challenging behaviour severe enough to be deemed to require continuing healthcare from a traditional learning disability hospital to new purpose-built bungalows. The new accommodation was provided by a specialist NHS…

Background: Policy objectives for people with intellectual disabilities include day service modernization and the promotion of paid employment and quality of life. Quality of life is under represented as an outcome measure in vocational research. This research compares subjective and objective quality of life, and quality of work environment for…