Focus on interaction: The use of an Individualized Support Program for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

In supporting individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), professionals have expressed the need for a person-centered planning method especially targeted for the highly complex and specialized support needs of these clients. The current study has evaluated the effectiveness of an Individual Support Program especially developed for persons with PIMD. A total of 23 clients and 41 professionals of a residential facility in the Netherlands participated in the study. The content and number of goals were analyzed, as well as the specific “goal patterns” for individual clients. Furthermore, the ideas that direct-support persons had about the program, and the relationship between client characteristics and the aspects described were investigated.The number of long-term goals is as expected, but the number of short-term goals is much lower. Too, the content of the long-term goals shows little variety, as almost all long-term goals focus on interaction and social roles. The short-term goals mainly aim to gather information about the individual with PIMD without applying the gathered knowledge. Although professionals experience increased workload as a result, the implementation method used may still be considered as effective in care planning.