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S weden's LSS and Social Integration: An Exploration of the Relationship between Personal Assistant Type, Activities, and Participation for Children with PIMD
Author(s) -
Boren Taylor,
Granlund Mats,
Wilder Jenny,
Axelsson Anna Karin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of policy and practice in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1741-1130
pISSN - 1741-1122
DOI - 10.1111/jppi.12146
Subject(s) - respite care , psychology , personal care , social engagement , personal development , developmental psychology , social psychology , nursing , sociology , medicine , social science , family medicine , psychotherapist
The Swedish personal assistance system, facilitated through Swedish legislation (known as the LSS), allows children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) to receive subsidized personal assistance. This assistance may be either a hired professional from outside the family or a parent paid as a personal assistant. The type of personal assistant can impact activity selection. As noted by bio‐ecological systems theory, participation in “systems” beyond the household is important for a child's cognitive and social development, including the development of children with disabilities. The authors explored whether children's personal assistant type (i.e., external or parental) is related to their presence in socially integrative activities (SIAs) versus non‐socially integrative activities (NSIAs). The relationship between children's activity engagement and their personal assistant type was examined via a descriptive, comparative study based on a questionnaire. Sixty families answered, providing quantitative data about personal assistance type across 56 common family activities. Children's external assistants showed a greater presence in SIAs than children's parental assistants, who showed a greater presence in NSIAs. The level of activity engagement between personal assistant type, however, had a less direct relationship. In accordance with bio‐ecological systems theory, activity selection can influence the child's cognitive and social development. Ultimately, this study suggests that external assistants partake in more SIAs than parental assistants, likely as a function of providing respite for families. This respite stems from the LSS's implicit role for external personal assistants to also serve as relief for parents. In turn, by facilitating exposure to broader systems, these external assistants can play a critical role in children's social and cognitive development.