Disability Service Providers Supporting Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Living in Group Homes: A Qualitative, Exploratory Study

Irene Belperio () and Ruth Walker
Additional contact information
Irene Belperio: College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide 5000, Australia
Ruth Walker: College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide 5000, Australia

Disabilities, 2025, vol. 5, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Dementia is a global health issue. For adults with intellectual disabilities living with dementia, diagnosis and support pose unique challenges. For those who reside in shared disability supported accommodation (group homes), there are additional considerations regarding support and ageing in place. Semi-structured interviews with twelve staff from three disability service providers in Australia were conducted to explore the experiences of disability service providers supporting adults with intellectual disabilities and dementia. The study found that delays in diagnosis hampered timely and effective interventions and, consequently, the care and support received by those adults with intellectual disabilities living with dementia. This impacted organisations’ ability to adequately staff accommodation and remunerate disability support workers. This had implications for those in group homes, where the needs of other residents were affected. Lastly, while ageing in place was considered desirable, none of the provider organisations had guidelines for remaining in the home. This study highlights the need for further investigation into this growing population, including those living in the community.

Keywords: dementia; intellectual disability; group home; disability services; ageing in place; aged care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/5/3/83/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/5/3/83/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jdisab:v:5:y:2025:i:3:p:83-:d:1751516

Access Statistics for this article

Disabilities is currently edited by Ms. Cici Zhou

More articles in Disabilities from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().