Page 103 - Social networks of people with mild intellectual disabilities: characteristics and interventions

Expanding and Strengthening Social Networks
5.1 Introduction
Support for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) has greatly changed over the past few decades. First, the focus has shifted from limitations on intelligence and skills to the person functioning as a whole. Second, the concept of ‘quality of life’ has been introduced into the care for people with ID and used to evaluate their general well-being, which includes their rights, participation in society, autonomy, independence, choices, emotional well-being, personal development and social inclusion (Buntinx & Schalock, 2010). With respect to social inclusion, two main aspects have gained importance: interaction with others — including friends, family and people in the community — and participation in community activities (Abbott & McConkey, 2006; McConkey & Collins, 2010a). Finally, individualized support is increasingly being provided to enhance the quality of life for people with ID (Buntinx & Schalock, 2010).
Worldwide, these developments have been translated into policy resulting
in more and more people with ID living and working in the community.
Research shows advantages of such social inclusion, moreover. For example,
people living in supported living accommodation (i.e. dwelling in an ordinary 5 house or apartment in the community with visiting support from professionals)
tend to have more social contact than those living in a group or residential care (McConkey, 2007; Robertson et al., 2001). Physical presence in the community,
however, does not guarantee greater social inclusion just as taking part in an
activity does not guarantee meaningful social contact, particularly with people
without ID (Ager, Myers, Kerr, Myles, & Green, 2001). When people with ID live
and work in society, they can — in fact — easily fall into isolation (Chenoweth
& Stehlik, 2004). Their social networks are generally small (e.g. Lippold & Burns,
2009; Verdonschot, de Witte, Reichrath, Buntinx, & Curfs, 2009), and they
typically include very little contact with people who do not have ID (i.e. only
families and caregivers in this regard) (e.g. Dusseljee, Rijken, Cardol, Curfs, & Groenewegen, 2011; Lippold & Burns, 2009; Verdonschot et al., 2009).
Research shows people with ID to perceive several barriers to social inclusion. The barriers include a lack of the necessary knowledge and skills; the location of their homes; various community factors; and the roles played by support staff (Abbott & McConkey, 2006). With respect to the roles of support staff, research shows staff members to pay greater attention to care tasks than to social inclusion tasks (McConkey & Collins, 2010a). The well-intended efforts
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