Support Staff-client Interactions With Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Intellectual Disability Clinical Trial

Official title:

Support Staff's Interactions With Adults With Intellectual Disability Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02099773
• Other study ID #: S56517
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: March 24, 2014
• Last updated: December 7, 2017
• Start date: March 2014
• Est. completion date: May 2017

Study information

• Verified date: November 2017
• Source: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

This exploratory and observational study focuses on adults with an intellectual disability (ID) and their support workers. Two groups of clients are observed: clients using Key Word Signing, and clients using aided Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Approximately half of adults with ID is estimated to experience communication difficulties. AAC supports them in their daily communication aiming at optimal participation in society. Current communication models, such as Participation Model (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005) and International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO, 2001), regard both client-related and environmental factors as important elements of communication. A substantial part of the environmental factors is made up of the communication partners' characteristics. In daycare and residential services for adults with ID the support worker is an important communication partner .

Description:

This study aims to:

1. with regard to teaching Key Word Signing (KWS), a specific form of AAC, to support workers:

Analyse the relation between training method, support workers' attitude, and short and long term sign knowledge.

2. with regard to the use of manual signs in everyday communication between support workers and adults with ID:

• Identity the support workers' characteristics that may influence the quality/quantity of the communication between adults with ID who use manual signs and their support worker.

• Analyse the nature of this influence as well as any possible interaction effects with the clients' characteristics.

3. Assess whether an existing instrument, designed for measuring interactions between parents and children with cerebral palsy using AAC, may be used with adults client and support workers.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 40
• Est. completion date: May 2017
• Est. primary completion date: December 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• uses AAC with client

• client has congenital intellectual disability

• supports client for at least 6 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• client has dementia symptoms

• client has severe, non-corrected visual impairment

• client has diagnosed autism

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Intellectual Disability

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Belgium	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven	Leuven	Vlaams-Brabant
Belgium	KULeuven	Leuven	Vlaams-Brabant
Belgium	KULeuven	Leuven	Flanders

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Belgium, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Signing rate of support workers and individuals with intellectual disabilities	Proportion: number of signed utterances divided by total number (spoken + exclusively spoken) of utterances	Three observation sessions over period of 2 weeks per participant, 2 years for all participants
Primary	Sign imitation rate support workers and individuals with intellectual disabilities	Proportion: number of manual sign imitations divided by total number manual signs produced	Three observation sessions over period of 2 weeks per participant, 2 years for all participants
Secondary	Explicit Attitude of direct care staff towards manual signs	Self-developed survey with subscales (Likert response): scaled score	One testing per participant, over period of 6 months for all participants
Secondary	Implicit Attitude of direct care staff working in towards manual signs	Single-Category Implicit Association Test scores	One testing per participant, over period of 6 months for all participants
Secondary	Communicative functions of individuals with intellectual disabilities	Proportion of responses/acknowledgement versus all communicative functions (responses/acknowledgements as well as initiations)	Three observation sessions over period of 2 weeks per participant, 2 years for all participants