Supporting direct support professionals in enabling people with intellectual disabilities to engage in meaningful activities: protocol for the Meaningful Activities 4 All (MA4A) study based on the human-centred design process

Introduction Meaningful activities (MA) have a positive impact on identity, well-being, participation and inclusion. Although people with intellectual disabilities (PID) depend on their direct support professionals (DSPs) to engage in MA, the DSPs need support which could enable them to offer more qualitative care and support. Methods and analysis To identify DSPs' needs, and to develop a tool/service, an innovative and iterative approach is developed, based on the human-centred design (HCD) process, combined with traditional qualitative and quantitative research methods. In the inspiration phase (needs analysis), in-depth interviews will be conducted in two day care centres in Flanders using an interpretative phenomenological analyses, one with a supply-driven approach and the other with a demand-driven approach, followed by a survey sent to all Flemish day care centres. In the ideation phase, the insights of phase 1 will guide a cocreation process (comprising a World Cafe, brainstorm and prototype sessions) with the DSPs, PID and other stakeholders. In the implementation phase, the solution will be tested in the two day care centres from phase 1 by means of living labs and a realist evaluation. By adopting this protocol, the functionality, quality, usability and acceptance are expected to increase. This protocol adopts all phases of the HCD process and shows the complementarity of HCD with traditional research methods. PID and the DSPs will benefit as the end result is truly grounded in their specific needs and wishes. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval by the Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Ghent, Belgium (reference numbers: B670202042983 and PA2021-091). All participants will sign informed consent forms. Results of this study will be submitted for publication in relevant peer-reviewed journals and will be presented at relevant conferences.