Interventions for challenging behaviours of adults with intellectual disabilities
Effect of interventions without using medication for challenging behaviour
As part of the IBIS project we examined what is already known about interventions without medication for challenging behaviours of adults with intellectual disabilities. There are a lot of those interventions. However, it is unclear if these interventions are effective.
Main results
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Interventions without medication effective
Interventions without medication appear to be longlasting effective in reducing challenging behaviours. We can conclude that interventions without medication are effective in the reduction of challenging behaviours of adults with intellectual disabilities.
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Behavioral interventions and mindfulness
Especially behavioral interventions combined with mindfulness are effective.
Method
We looked at every study that has been done on the effect of interventions without medication. We combined all the data from those studies and analyzed them together.
With our study, I hope we can offer the daily practice clarity about interventions without medication for the treatment of challenging behaviours of adults with intellectual disabilities.
What does this mean in practice?
In the care for adults with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours medication is used to reduce challenging behaviours. Unfortunately, medication has side-effects and the efficacy is unclear. Our study shows that there are effective treatments without using medication to treat challenging behaviours.
Cooperation
We worked together with researchers at UMCG and Centrum Verstandelijke Beperking en Psychiatrie.