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The results of a study examining the psychometric quality of a pictorial scale to measure perceived physical competence, perceived cognitive competence and perceived social acceptance by peers and caregivers in individuals with intellectual disabilities are reported. The scale was administered twice to 100 subjects. The stability of the scale proved good: the test-retest correlations were sufficiently high and significant; and the internal consistency of the scale also proved good. To establish the internal validity of the scale, the correlations between the four subscales were calculated. The correlations were reasonable, which shows coherence between the four scales but also sufficient differentiation. The correlations between the two subscales for social acceptance were quite high, and it was therefore decided to combine them. To gain insight into the external validity of the pictorial scale, a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was constructed to measure the three domains of perceived competence from the pictorial scale in a more global manner. The VAS yielded reliable results. The correlations between the VAS and the pictorial scale were moderate to reasonable. Finally, the scores on the pictorial scale did not vary according to sex or level of functioning. All of the subscales differed according to age, however. Individuals over the age of 35 scored significantly lower than younger individuals. The results of this research show the pictorial scale to be a reliable instrument for the measurement of perceived competence and social acceptance in individuals with intellectual disabilities.

This short report explores the quality of the care process for children with intellectual disabilities. A Delphi procedure was used to identify a set of indicators for the quality of the care process reflecting the perspectives of the care providers, the parents and the experts. The sample consisted of 59 individuals involved in different ways in the process of the caring for children with intellectual disabilities. The first round of the Delphi procedure resulted in 56 themes, distributed across four different phases of the care process. In the second round of the Delphi procedure, these themes were elaborated into 346 indicators that were, in turn, evaluated on their importance for the quality of the care process by the respondents. Finally, 328 indicators did meet the 85% criterion for consensus. Six themes proved to be relevant in all phases of care: transfer of information, report, consultation, attitude of care provider, respect and appointments. The operationalization of quality of care presented in this study points in the direction of actually measuring, monitoring and improving the quality of care for children with intellectual disabilities.