|
The Cochrane Collaboration
Cochrane Reviews |
| Explore | New + Updated | Other languages |
|
 |
Personal assistance for children and adolescents (0-18) with intellectual impairmentsMontgomery P, Mayo-Wilson E, Dennis JA
Bookmark this:
     more ...
SummaryOne study supports use of Personal Assistance for children and teens with intellectual impairments: more research is neededPersonal assistance is here defined as paid support of at least 20 hours per week for people with impairments. This review investigated the effectiveness of personal assistance versus any other form of care for children and adolescents with intellectual impairments. A literature search identified one study that met the inclusion criteria, which included 1002 participants. It suggested that personal assistance may be preferred over other services; however, some people prefer other models of care. This review indicates that personal assistance may have some benefits for some recipients and their informal caregivers. Paid assistance might substitute for informal care and cost government more than alternative arrangements; however, the relative total costs to recipients and society are unknown.
This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008 Issue 3, Copyright © 2008 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).
This version first published online:
July 16. 2008 AbstractBackgroundThere is a high and increasing prevalence of intellectual impairments among children and adolescents in the West. Many countries offer personal assistance in the form of individualised support for people living in the community by a paid assistant other than a healthcare professional for at least 20 hours per week. ObjectivesTo assess the effectiveness of personal assistance for children and adolescents with intellectual impairments, and the impacts of personal assistance on others, compared to other interventions. Search strategyElectronic databases including CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, Dissertation Abstracts International and a variety of specialist Swedish databases were searched from 1980 to June 2005; reference lists were checked; 345 experts, organisations, government bodies and charities were contacted in an attempt to locate relevant research. Selection criteriaChildren and adolescents with intellectual impairments (0-18 years) living in the community who require assistance to perform tasks of daily living (e.g., bathing and eating) and participate in normal activities due to permanent impairments. Controlled studies of personal assistance in which participants were prospectively assigned to study groups and in which control group outcomes were measured concurrently with intervention group outcomes were included. Data collection and analysisTitles and abstracts were examined by two reviewers. Outcome data were extracted. Studies were assessed for the possibility of bias. Results and potential sources of bias are presented for included studies. Main resultsOne included study randomised 1002 participants to personal assistance or usual care. Whilst personal assistance was generally preferred over other services, some people prefer other models of care. This review indicates that personal assistance may have some benefits for some recipients and may benefit caregivers. However, near complete dependence on proxy respondents raises concerns about the validity of these results. Paid assistance probably substitutes for informal care and may cost government more than alternatives; however, the total costs to recipients and society are currently unknown. Authors' conclusionsResearch in this field is limited. When implementing new programmes, recipients could be randomly assigned to different forms of assistance. While advocates may support personal assistance for myriad reasons, this review demonstrates that further studies are required to determine which models of personal assistance are most effective and efficient for particular people. |