Physical-activity support for people with intellectual disabilities: development of a tool to measure behavioural determinants in direct support professionals.
L W M Bossink, A A J van der Putten, H A Steenbergen and 1 others
PMID 31106932WHAT IT FOUND
A new questionnaire measures what stops direct support professionals from helping people with intellectual disabilities stay active.
It reliably scores three areas: the staff member's skills, the environment they work in, and their motivation. It identifies who needs support, but does not prove that helping staff increases patient activity.
Key findings
01The tool reliably measures three separate areas: capability, opportunity and motivation, with marginal reliability scores above 0.8 for each scale.
02The scales are most accurate at identifying professionals who struggle with physical-activity support, rather than distinguishing between those who already do it well.
03Two items in the motivation scale did not correlate well with the rest of the scale, suggesting the tool needs refinement before widespread use.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used a convenience sample from residential facilities, so it may not represent all settings where people with intellectual disabilities are supported. The tool is self-reported, so it measures what professionals think they do or feel, not their actual behaviour or the patients' actual activity levels. The study did not test if the tool can detect changes over time or if it is consistent if the same person completes it twice. Two items in the motivation scale performed poorly, indicating the tool is not yet fully refined.
Declared interests
There was no conflict of interest, and no restrictions were imposed on the publication of results.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this tool measures physical activity levels in patients. It measures the determinants of staff behaviour, so a high score only indicates staff feel capable, supported and motivated, not that the patients are actually active.