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Background: Studies have found that presence of challenging behaviours and mental health problems limits employment for people with intellectual disabilities. This study investigates the associations between age, gender, living condition, level of intellectual disability, diagnoses, behaviour, mental health, and employment in adults with intellectual disabilities in Norway., Method: A cross-sectional community-based survey including 214 adult participants (56% men) with intellectual disabilities., Results: In our sample, 25% had no organised day activity, 27% attended non-work day care, 19% attended sheltered employment, or day care with production, without pay and 29% worked in paid sheltered employment. One participant attended mainstream employment. Moderate and severe/profound level of intellectual disability, possible organic condition and irritability significantly reduced the odds of employment (paid and unpaid)., Conclusion: Findings suggest unequal access to the sheltered employment that was meant to be inclusive. More individualised evaluation of prerequisites is suggested to further facilitate employment for this group., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: This study investigates the use of health and dental care services in adults with intellectual disability in the last 12 months according to Norwegian recommendations and in relation to age and intellectual disability levels. Method: A cross-sectional community-based survey including 214 participants (56% men). POMONA health indicators were used for data collection. Results: Health checks and contact with general practitioners in the last year increased with age but were less frequent in those with more severe intellectual disability. Hospital admissions were age independent. Less than one-fifth of women had undergone cancer screening, with small variations according to intellectual disability severity levels. Few had an individual plan. More than one-third experienced poor dental health despite frequent controls. Conclusions: The use of health checks was lower than recommended, especially in individuals with more severe intellectual disability. Service access and individual plan use need to be enhanced, and dental care services should be improved.

A significant number of patients with intellectual disability (ID) were admitted to forensic mental health asylums during the period 1915-1987. Many of these patients stayed for more than a decade, because of previous offending behaviour. We investigated the daily lives of 262 patients with an ID using casebooks. Two of the patients were studied more in detail. The available documents describe most of these patients as sociable, well-behaved and socially engaged although they missed having contacts outside the hospital. Long-stay patients were studied more in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the last decade, the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) has provided a strong evidence base to predict a range of problem behaviors. The implementation of START and adaptation of the services to the use of START have so far been sparsely described in the literature. The purpose of this study was to describe the continuation and the interdisciplinarity of risk assessments through the two phases. Methods: Over a period of 10 years, the forensic mental health services at Brøset has implemented START in two phases: initially with implementing the instrument (2005-2009) and secondarily by customizing the instrument to everyday treatment and planning (since 2009). This implementation was based on data from 887 START assessments for 181 patients over a decade (2005-2015). Results: The results showed that the number of START assessments has been stable throughout the past 10 years and the interval between the ratings has decreased significantly (p<0.05). The involvement by diversity of professionals has increased significantly over the two implementation phases. Conclusion: This study also addressed the continuity and organization of the implementation process and presented an overview of how START has been widespread in the service through treatment. The results showed an increased multidisciplinary participation and a continuing rate of assessments as the implementation progressed from assessment to a combined assessment-treatment phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are a number of supported housing options for people with severe mental illness (SMI), but limited knowledge about residents' experiences. The aim of this study was to explore how people with SMI experienced sheltered housing consisting of both a private fully equipped apartment and a shared accommodation room for socializing. Methods: Fourteen people with SMI living in sheltered housing apartments participated in a qualitative study with semi-structured face to face individual or group interviews. Results: Residents' access to the service providers in the sheltered housing, who were seen as both "ordinary people" and skilled to observe symptom changes at an early stage, were major factors for the perception of security. In addition, residents highlighted the possibility of living in a fully equipped apartment, and having access to a shared accommodation room to connect with other residents. Having a fully equipped apartment including their own equipment such as a washing machine was said to help reduce conflicts. Short tenancy agreements made some informants feel insecure. It was also essential to have meaningful daily activities outside the residence to avoid re-hospitalization. Conclusions: The positive experience was connected to having a fully private equipped apartment including shared accommodation room. The service providers should be aware of the dilemma with in-house support, to make residents feel secure versus increased dependency on service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until 1982, a number of patients with intellectual disabilities (ID) in Norway were hospitalized in the country's two forensic mental health hospitals. The aim of this article was to explore the background of these patients based on the characteristics of their life experiences before admission to the hospital. Data from the period 1895–1982 were retrieved for 272 patients with ID. All patients' records were read and key information from childhood and important life experiences were categorized in terms of both numeric and descriptive variables. Most patients had experienced social and health problems in their family during childhood. A minority had completed primary education. A majority of the patients had some work experience. Offences leading to admission included several types from simple to serious crimes. Three periods were compared in order to study the changes in relation to the changing social and welfare conditions during the century. One main observation was that in spite of better education the trend during the century was that fewer of these patients experienced any labour participation. Historically, the diversity in level of functioning and previous treatment makes patients with ID in the forensic mental health hospitals a more varied group than previously described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]