Working practices employed within and across hospital and community service provision for adults with an intellectual disability and additional needs

This study documented the perceptions of 98 front-line staff of 42 adult residential and day care facilities regarding the working practices employed within and across 38 community and hospital units, using the Working Method Scale. This scale was designed to measure whether the service units adopted any systematic approaches in their practices with regard to client planning, assessment and staff training. Results indicated that systematic approaches were reported to be employed in terms of how staff planned client care. Inconsistencies were found between service settings regarding the involvement of the client and professional input (i.e. psychology). Furthermore, this study found a distinct shortage of 'good' practices in relation to person-centred plans and assessment tools for measuring challenging behaviours and mental health problems. The results highlight that these services are adopting a 'minding' model in contrast to an 'active support' model. Consequently, this study challenges service providers to ensure that all service units adopt what are considered 'good' working practices. © 2001 Sage Publications.