Impediments to community-based care for people ageing with intellectual disability in rural New South Wales

Title
Impediments to community-based care for people ageing with intellectual disability in rural New South Wales
Publication Date
2014
Author(s)
Wark, Stuart
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5366-1860
Email: stuart.wark@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:swark5
Hussain, Rafat
Edwards, Helen
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1111/hsc.12130
UNE publication id
une:16239
Abstract
The emerging phenomenon of ageing with an intellectual disability has become subject to an increasing research focus in recent years. However, there remains little knowledge regarding the specific impediments that community workers face in supporting this cohort. The aims of the current study were to identify the major factors that, direct care staff believe, have most impact upon individuals ageing with an intellectual disability in the community. A three-round Delphi project was conducted across rural areas of New South Wales in Australia with 31 disability support workers to gain their perspectives on the main impediments facing a person ageing with intellectual disability. The 2010 study identified that the issue of ageing with an intellectual disability was presenting significant problems for community-based service delivery to this group of people. The panel identified 25 different impediments to the provision of support. A thematic analysis of the items indicated three main themes of 'funding', 'training' and 'access to services'. By identifying these impediments to supporting people ageing with an intellectual disability in the community, both services and government funding bodies have the ability to plan to overcome both current and future problem areas. This identification of impediments may facilitate individuals to receive more appropriate assistance, which in turn may lead to an improved quality of life and maintenance of a community based placement rather than premature admission to the congregate-care system. This study is particularly timely, given that Australia is in the midst of implementing a National Disability Insurance Scheme, and is an opportunity for all levels of government to agree on the mechanisms to appropriately assist individuals with an intellectual disability to continue to be supported in the community as they age.
Link
Citation
Health and Social Care in the Community, 22(6), p. 623-633
ISSN
1365-2524
0966-0410
Start page
623
End page
633

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