Donald Beasley Institute for research and education on intellectual disability.

Intellectual Disability Service Staff

Working in Intellectual Disability Services: What is it like?

Photo of a tree seen through a window.

Residential services for people with intellectual disabilities often experience a high turnover of support staff, and this can negatively affect the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities. Support staff frequently experience high stress, inadequate recognition, support, training, and burnout. However, staff characteristics, coping strategies, training, supervision, rewards, and positive aspects of the work may help retain experienced and qualified staff.

The Working in Intellectual Disability Services: What is it Like? project is a mixed-methods study designed to identify:

  • the general demographics and turnover levels of the New Zealand workforce;
  • the perceived workplace issues;
  • and the factors affecting job satisfaction, stress and burnout in nine New Zealand intellectual disability agencies.

The Working in Intellectual Disability Services: What is it Like? project is a three year long project, funded by the New Zealand Health Research Council, and is due to be completed by the end of 2010. The research is being conducted in three phases. Phase One includes a national survey of nine service agencies, a survey of all residential support staff in the nine consenting agencies, and an analysis of policy documentation from these agencies. Thirty on-going case studies will also be conducted at 3-month intervals over a 24 month period. While the case studies are on-going, both the national agency survey, and the staff survey have now been completed. Phase Two of the study involves data collection through 150-key informant interviews (including people with an intellectual disability). In Phase Three, data will be analysed and 32 focus groups will be convened to contribute to the analysis process.

We hope that this project will contribute to the improved well-being and the quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities who are supported to live in the community by support staff. The study has the potential to inform policy and practice in ways that may result in improved service quality and improved employment contexts for staff working in residential intellectual disability services.