Direct support workers play an important role in the social integration process of people with intellectual disabilities. However, time restrictions and client-worker ratios may make improvements to even physical integration difficult, and in some cases almost impossible. This research, conducted in the Netherlands, investigated the role of volunteers in enhancing the physical integration of people with intellectual disabilities, as the first step towards social integration. Study 1 involved an exploratory inventory of volunteer tasks in a large disability service organisation; in Study 2, support workers completed a questionnaire in which they rated the tasks suitable for volunteers to undertake. Most volunteers performed activities that enabled people with intellectual disabilities to be physically integrated in the community. The most frequent of these was "assisting with group activities." Most support workers believed that supporting community-based activities was not a suitable task for volunteers. Although volunteers already play a role in the social integration of people with intellectual disabilities, support workers did not acknowledge or were unaware of this role and the associated current and future possibilities for supporting people with intellectual disabilities.

Background: Physical integration is believed to be a precondition for social integration. One might expect that in so-called reversed integration, where people without intellectual disabilities (ID) actively choose to live next to people with ID, conditions for physical integration are more optimal, and social integration is enhanced. If this hypothesized benefit of reversed integration settings indeed holds, however, is yet unknown. Specific aims: The aim of the present study is to examine barriers for social integration of people with ID. In this context, the present article focuses on the role of safety and safety concerns. Method: A semi structured interview was conducted with 28 direct support professionals (DSPs), 25 family members, and 25 neighbors, aimed at their attitude toward social integration in a reversed integration neighborhood. Several topics were dealt with, like the neighborhood and contact between people with ID and neighbors. There were no explicit questions about safety in the interview. Findings: The topic of safety was spontaneously mentioned 90 times by 26 DSPs, 15 times by 9 neighbors, and 36 times by 18 family members. Three main themes were found in the total group of statements touching upon the issue of safety: environmental aspects, client characteristics, and working conditions. The most often mentioned subthemes were the openness of the neighborhood and the traffic. Discussion: In reversed integration, safety is still a highly relevant topic and of great concern for the DSPs and the family members. DSPs are more concerned with controlling risks and keeping everybody safe than looking at the opportunities the new environment offers, like enhancing social integration.

Direct support professionals (DSPs) play an important role in the process of integration of people with intellectual disabilities. Nevertheless, little is currently known about what determines the level of effort exerted by DSPs to enable the social integration of their clients. The aim of this study was to investigate three different psychological determinants (attitudes, social norms, and meta-evaluations) of the behavioral intentions of DSPs to facilitate the social integration of their clients. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 28 DSPs working in a setting of reversed integration, as well as 25 family members and 25 neighbors. The DSPs' perceived social norms and meta-evaluations of neighbors and family members were compared with their actual social norms and evaluations. The authors found that half of the DSPs interviewed were positive about integration, whereas the other half were negative or neutral. Concerning social norms, the DSPs expect neighbors to have neutral attitudes toward the integration of people with intellectual disabilities, while in reality the neighbors are very positive. More than half of the DSPs were uncertain about the family members' opinions about integration. Asking the family members themselves, there was some variation in their attitudes toward integration. Regarding the meta-evaluation, DSPs had a realistic idea about how their work would be evaluated by family members and neighbors; both groups were positive. It is evident that this group of DSPs had an overly negative idea of neighbors' opinions about integration and contact with people with intellectual disabilities. Creating awareness of a supportive social norm in the neighborhood could help and encourage DSPs to strive for social contact between their clients and neighbors.

Sinds 1 januari 2015 zijn er wetswijzigingen doorgevoerd in de zorg voor personen met een verstandelijke beperking die leiden tot een veranderende rol voor vrijwilligers, in zowel aard en inhoud, als in duur. Zo zal op het gebied van sociale integratie inzet van vrijwilligers nodig zijn om onder andere taken van begeleiders over te nemen waar de begeleiders niet aan toe komen. Om meer zicht te krijgen op welke rol vrijwilligers (kunnen) spelen in de zorg voor personen met een verstandelijke beperking, is meer kennis nodig over het huidige vrijwilligerswerk, en de manier waarop in de toekomst vrijwilligers kunnen worden ingezet. Door middel van een vragenlijstonderzoek bij 117 vrijwilligers en een expertmeeting met 17 direct betrokkenen in de zorg voor personen met een verstandelijke beperking is dit onderzocht. Uit de resultaten van het vragenlijstonderzoek blijkt dat ’traditionele’ vrijwilligers vrijwilligerswerk doen in de zorg voor personen met een verstandelijke beperking: vrouwen die niet (meer) werken en die het werk doen vanuit altruistische motieven. Uit de expertmeeting komt bovendien naar voren dat niet alle betrokkenen vrijwilligerswerk zien als een brug voor de sociale integratie. Sociale integratie wordt niet voor alle personen met een verstandelijke beperking haalbaar geacht.

BACKGROUND:Various studies have found that direct support professionals (DSPs) play an important role in determining the degree to which people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are included in society. However, less research has been conducted on the psychological processes that may influence the behavioural intentions of DSPs to actually engage with and invest effort in supporting their clients' inclusion. Five possible psychological variables are identified in the literature: attitudes, social norms, experienced competencies, identity and meta-evaluation. In our research, we tested whether these processes influence the (intended) efforts DSPs make to facilitate their clients' inclusion.METHOD:A structured questionnaire was sent to 927 DSPs working in one of three different locations (an ordinary non-segregated setting, a reversed non-segregated setting and a residential facility). Of these, 336 DSPs completed the questionnaire.RESULTS:Several variables revealed differences between the three locations, specifically in efforts to facilitate inclusion, attitudes, social norms, experienced competencies and professional identity. Looking at the overall means, we found (relatively) high scores for the experienced competencies, role identity and meta-evaluation. In contrast, the means were relatively negative regarding the DSPs' attitudes to inclusion and their assumed social norms.CONCLUSIONS:Direct support professionals' efforts to facilitate inclusion depend on their attitude towards inclusion, the experienced competencies, their role identity, the DSPs' meta-evaluation and, indirectly through attitudes, also on the assumed social norms of the relevant stakeholders. Organizations responsible for supporting people with ID and which may want their DSPs to make greater efforts to facilitate inclusion should pay attention to these psychological variables.