Page 29 - Reduction of coercive measures

Method
Study setting
The present study was performed within one care organization for people with ID in the Netherlands that serves approximately 9,500 residents. Type of care is diverse. It includes support for living with intellectual and physical disabilities as well as treatment for additional psychiatric problems, challenging behavior, and health problems, and concerns a wide range in age and level of intellectual disability. This broad scope of support is delivered in residential facilities on areas designed as parks owned by the institution or in districts of villages and cities, through support at home, or within day-care centers or outpatient clinics in residential 24/7h care. The study was conducted alongside the implementation of a new policy of coercive measure reduction and registration.
Part one – reliability study
Participants
The study focused on residential care and therefore care units (n = 55) were randomly selected from a total of 566 24-hour care units. Units, in which on average six residents lived, could be included if they provided care for at least four residents. Units were spread throughout the Netherlands and were located within parks or districts of villages and cities.
Procedure
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the faculty of Psychology and Education, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Residents or their representatives and support staff were approached for their participation. Residents or, in case of incapacity, their representatives, received an information letter and were asked to return the informed consent form. Capacity of a resident to decide to participate in the study or not was set by consultation of caregivers, legal representatives and sometimes by the residents themselves. When no form was received within three weeks the first author or a research assistant contacted them by phone to provide further explanation. 269 residents or
Measurement of coercive measures
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