Standard care and telecare services: comparing the effectiveness of two service systems with consumers with intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND: Onsite standard care and remote telecare supports were provided to adults with intellectual disabilities living in integrated community settings and evaluated in terms of effectiveness as consumers completed a series of novel household activities. METHODS: Using an alternating treatment design with baseline and follow-up conditions in this single-case study, investigators compared the prompting effectiveness provided by onsite standard care staff and a remote telecare provider. RESULTS: While both types of supports resulted in consumers completing tasks, results indicated consumers achieved slightly more independence when prompted by the telecare support provider. Additionally, telecare supports resulted in greater duration for task completion per consumer. CONCLUSIONS: Although consumers completed tasks with greater independence using telecare supports, caution should be used when interpreting results due to the small number of participants. The potential for this technology certainly exists in supporting consumers in their own homes thus, suggestions for future investigations are provided.