Effect and Process Evaluation of a Structural Health Intervention in Community Residences for Adults With Intellectual Disabilities

This study evaluated effectiveness of a structural health intervention, a study circle for paid carers aiming to improve health promotion work routines for residents, and explored barriers and facilitators in the implementation process. A quasi ‐experimental design was used. Eight municipalities with 84 community residences agreed to participate with 70 of these completing the study. A 26‐item questionnaire was used regarding staff work routines in three domains (general health promotion, food and meals, physical activity) and a total score to evaluate effectiveness. An inductive qualitative method was used to explore barriers and facilitators in the implementation process. The intervention group (n = 42 residences) improved their health promoting work routines significantly more than the comparison group (n = 28 residences) in the domains of general health promotion (p = .05), physical activity (p = .02), and for the total score (p = .002), but no significant change was found in the food and meal domain (p = .11). Regarding barriers and facilitators in the implementation process, a “Need for a supportive structure and key persons with a mandate to act,” was identified as an overarching theme. Barriers and facilitators were identified within four categories: (1) characteristics of the study circle, (2) staff capacity, (3) organizational capacity, and (4) external support. T his study provides evidence that a structural intervention targeting staff in community residen...
Source: Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities - Category: Disability Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research