Caring for children with intellectual disabilities part 1: Experience with the population, pain-related beliefs, and care decisions

• Published in: Research in developmental disabilities Vol. 62; pp. 197 - 208
• Main Authors: Genik, Lara M., McMurtry, C. Meghan, Breau, Lynn M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Allied Health Personnel; Attitude of Health Personnel; Child; Children; Female; Humans; Intellectual disability; Intellectual Disability - nursing; Male; Middle Aged; Ontario; Pain - nursing; Pain assessment; Pain management; Respite; Respite Care; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Pain assessment; Intellectual disability; Children; Respite; Pain management
• ISSN: 0891-4222; 1873-3379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2017.01.020

•Respite workers held more positive disability beliefs than those without experience.•Pain beliefs varied by experience in the field and impairment severity of the child.•Disability beliefs may play a role in predicting pain-related care decisions. Some children with intellectual disabilities (ID): experience pain more frequently than children without ID, express their pain differently, and are incapable of providing self-reports. No research has examined disability and pain-related beliefs of respite workers (RW) and their relations to pain assessment and management decisions for children with ID. (1) compare disability and pain-related beliefs between RW and a sample with little experience in ID; (2) determine whether individuals’ beliefs and personal characteristics are related to pain assessment and management decisions. Fifty-six RW (aged: 18–67 years, Mage=33.37, 46 female) and 141 emerging adults (aged: 18–31 years, Mage=19.67, 137 female). In an online survey, participants responded to six vignettes depicting pain in children with ID, and completed measures of pain and disability-related beliefs. Compared to those without experience, RW held more positive disability-related beliefs, t(192)=4.23, p<0.001. Participants’ pain-related beliefs (e.g., sensitivity to pain) differed depending on severity of the child’s ID and participant group. Participants’ pain-related beliefs predicted care decisions. Results provide initial insight into RW pain-related beliefs about children with ID, and a basic understanding of the relations among pain beliefs, personal characteristics and pain-related decisions.