{"title":"Decision-making support: the impact of training on disability support workers who work with adults with cognitive disability.","authors":"Stella Koritsas","doi":"10.1017/BrImp.2022.14","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is growing recognition that people with disability have the right to be involved in making decisions that affect their lives. Decision-making support has emerged as one way to support people with cognitive disability to make decisions, however, there is a paucity of research that explores how disability support workers can be upskilled to provide decision-making support to this group. The aim of the research was to explore the impact of an evidence-based online training course on disability support workers of adults with cognitive disability. Changes in knowledge about decision-making support and confidence in providing decision-making support were explored, attitudes towards decision-making support, and facilitators and barriers. Participants completed an online training course and responded to a survey on three occasions: baseline, post-training, and at 2-month follow-up. Ninety-nine disability support workers across Australia participated in the online training and completed the baseline and post-training surveys. Thirty-six participants completed the training and all three surveys. The results revealed that there were statistically significant improvements in knowledge, confidence, and attitudes from baseline to post-training, which were maintained at 2-month follow-up. Barriers to decision-making support included service providers or other supporters, including the family of the person with cognitive disability, whilst a key enabler was knowing about the decision-making support principles. This research demonstrates that an evidence-based online training course about decision-making support can be effective in building capacity in disability support workers. There are, however, several barriers that must be addressed to facilitate the implementation of decision-making support.</p>","PeriodicalId":56329,"journal":{"name":"Brain Impairment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Brain Impairment","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/BrImp.2022.14","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/5/27 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
There is growing recognition that people with disability have the right to be involved in making decisions that affect their lives. Decision-making support has emerged as one way to support people with cognitive disability to make decisions, however, there is a paucity of research that explores how disability support workers can be upskilled to provide decision-making support to this group. The aim of the research was to explore the impact of an evidence-based online training course on disability support workers of adults with cognitive disability. Changes in knowledge about decision-making support and confidence in providing decision-making support were explored, attitudes towards decision-making support, and facilitators and barriers. Participants completed an online training course and responded to a survey on three occasions: baseline, post-training, and at 2-month follow-up. Ninety-nine disability support workers across Australia participated in the online training and completed the baseline and post-training surveys. Thirty-six participants completed the training and all three surveys. The results revealed that there were statistically significant improvements in knowledge, confidence, and attitudes from baseline to post-training, which were maintained at 2-month follow-up. Barriers to decision-making support included service providers or other supporters, including the family of the person with cognitive disability, whilst a key enabler was knowing about the decision-making support principles. This research demonstrates that an evidence-based online training course about decision-making support can be effective in building capacity in disability support workers. There are, however, several barriers that must be addressed to facilitate the implementation of decision-making support.
期刊介绍:
The journal addresses topics related to the aetiology, epidemiology, treatment and outcomes of brain impairment with a particular focus on the implications for functional status, participation, rehabilitation and quality of life. Disciplines reflect a broad multidisciplinary scope and include neuroscience, neurology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, clinical psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, social work, and nursing. Submissions are welcome across the full range of conditions that affect brain function (stroke, tumour, progressive neurological illnesses, dementia, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, etc.) throughout the lifespan.