Support Staff-client Interactions With Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Support Staff's Interactions With Adults With Intellectual Disability Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication

This exploratory and observational study focuses on adults with an intellectual disability (ID) and their support workers. Two groups of clients are observed: clients using Key Word Signing, and clients using aided Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Approximately half of adults with ID is estimated to experience communication difficulties. AAC supports them in their daily communication aiming at optimal participation in society. Current communication models, such as Participation Model (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005) and International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO, 2001), regard both client-related and environmental factors as important elements of communication. A substantial part of the environmental factors is made up of the communication partners' characteristics. In daycare and residential services for adults with ID the support worker is an important communication partner .

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Intellectual Disability

Detailed Description

This study aims to:

1. with regard to teaching Key Word Signing (KWS), a specific form of AAC, to support workers:

   Analyse the relation between training method, support workers' attitude, and short and long term sign knowledge.

2. with regard to the use of manual signs in everyday communication between support workers and adults with ID:

   • Identity the support workers' characteristics that may influence the quality/quantity of the communication between adults with ID who use manual signs and their support worker.
   • Analyse the nature of this influence as well as any possible interaction effects with the clients' characteristics.
3. Assess whether an existing instrument, designed for measuring interactions between parents and children with cerebral palsy using AAC, may be used with adults client and support workers.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 40

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Flanders
    • Leuven, Flanders, Belgium
      • KULeuven
  • Vlaams-Brabant
    • Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium, 3000
      • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
    • Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium, 3000
      • KULeuven

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Support workers who work in residential facilities or day-centres for adults with intellectual disability, in Flanders.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• uses AAC with client
• client has congenital intellectual disability
• supports client for at least 6 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• client has dementia symptoms
• client has severe, non-corrected visual impairment
• client has diagnosed autism

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
support workers & AAC users; Support workers who use KeyWordSigning in the communication with their client who has an intellectual disability
support workers & KWS users; Support workers who use aided AAC in the communication with their client who has an intellectual disability

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Signing rate of support workers and individuals with intellectual disabilities	Proportion: number of signed utterances divided by total number (spoken + exclusively spoken) of utterances	Three observation sessions over period of 2 weeks per participant, 2 years for all participants
Sign imitation rate support workers and individuals with intellectual disabilities	Proportion: number of manual sign imitations divided by total number manual signs produced	Three observation sessions over period of 2 weeks per participant, 2 years for all participants

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Explicit Attitude of direct care staff towards manual signs	Self-developed survey with subscales (Likert response): scaled score	One testing per participant, over period of 6 months for all participants
Implicit Attitude of direct care staff working in towards manual signs	Single-Category Implicit Association Test scores	One testing per participant, over period of 6 months for all participants
Communicative functions of individuals with intellectual disabilities	Proportion of responses/acknowledgement versus all communicative functions (responses/acknowledgements as well as initiations)	Three observation sessions over period of 2 weeks per participant, 2 years for all participants

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ellen Rombouts, PhD cand., KU Leuven

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 24, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): March 31, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 11, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 7, 2017
• Last Verified: November 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: communication; adults; intellectual disability; AAC; support worker; direct care staff; learning disability
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Intellectual Disability
• Other Study ID Numbers: S56517