Parents and their intellectually disabled adults’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators impacting their social participation

Abstract

Background: Social participation is an important occupation that all people, including those with intellectual disabilities, find meaningful and purposeful. Social participation improves one's self-worth, belief in others, happiness, mental health, and capacity to contribute positively. Social participation is also a strategy for social justice and change that makes it easier to consider the demands of those involved in a particular circumstance and promotes social inclusion. Aims: The study aimed to investigate the personal views of intellectually disabled adults and their parents about the barriers and facilitators impacting the former’s social participation. It also aims to explore the implications of the findings for occupational therapy practice. Method: A qualitative approach utilizing semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions was adopted. Following FREC approval purposeful sampling procedure was used to select four participants with intellectual disability and their parents. The participants with intellectual disability were selected from mental health rehabilitation centres. Participants with intellectual disabilities had to be English-speaking, over 18 years of age and had no difficulties with communication. Either one or both parents of these selected adults with intellectual disability were selected by the intermediary and were also eligible to participate and had to be English-speaking. Both sets of participants were interviewed separately. Findings: After thematic analysis of the data obtained, six emergent themes were identified as essential areas of social participation according to both sets of participants. Several barriers and facilitators impacted these areas related to social participation. These essential areas included connection with family members, connection with friends, participation in social activities, participation in employment, education, access, and engagement with technology. Conclusion: This study draws attention to the lack of local literature that examines the barriers and facilitators from the perspectives of parents and adults with intellectual disabilities. Although the study's significant findings were comparable to those of other international research, specific, less common findings were also noted. These include the over-protectiveness of parents, the use of technological devices that eliminated the need for these adults with intellectual disabilities to participate socially, and the lack of knowledge of the parents and the adults with intellectual disabilities regarding the local services that can support this client group. The recommendations encouraged social participation and established a welcoming environment for adults with intellectual disabilities. They also included suggestions for future study, legislation, and practice.