Health Information Infrastructure for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Living in Supported Accommodation: Communication, Co-Ordination and Integration of Health Information

Information infrastructure and quality person-centred support in supported accommodation: An integrative review

OBJECTIVES

To integrate findings on the information infrastructure for people with intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) living in supported accommodation, to understand how documentation use impacts person-centred support.

METHODS

We conducted an integrative literature review. Following screening by two independent reviewers, we included English language peer-reviewed empirical studies (n = 34) on documentation use for people with I/DD in domestic-scale supported accommodation. We appraised quality and extracted information for iterative comparative thematic and content analysis.

RESULT

All studies reported written documentation regarding either the person with disability or the residence. Eighteen studies focused on health-specific information. We identified three key themes impacting on the person-centred support; 1) level of inclusion and independence of people with I/DD, 2) the culture of support within group homes, and 3) the quality use of information.

CONCLUSIONS

Information infrastructure is closely aligned with the support culture in residences and can affect whether and to what extent key stakeholders (i.e., people with I/DD, family members) are involved in making decisions about healthcare and support needs.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Surveying local service health information infrastructure can provide crucial insights which can be leveraged to improve the safety and quality of supports provided for people living in supported accommodation.

How frontline staff manage paperwork in group homes for people with intellectual disability: Implications for practice

BACKGROUND

Paperwork is a key tool that transforms organizational intentions into actions in group homes, although prescriptive procedures may limit how frontline staff use it in practice. The aim of this study was to explore how frontline staff use paperwork in group homes for people with intellectual disability and identify practice implications.

METHOD

Constructivist grounded theory methodology guided the research. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and participant observations. Coding, comparison and sorting methods were adopted to analyse how staff used paperwork.

RESULTS

Staff followed organizational paperwork rules when they aligned with their resident-focused approach to work. When they perceived rules to misalign with this approach, they managed paperwork by adjusting the time and place of completion, managing content, creating alternative tools and refusing completion.

CONCLUSIONS

Staff purposefully managed paperwork rather than simply following procedures. Disability service organizations could develop flexible paperwork procedures and include frontline perspectives in paperwork development.