The wide‐scale implementation of a support program for parents of children with an intellectual disability and difficult behaviour

Background While there have been several evaluations of programs to help parents manage difficult behaviour of their child with an intellectual disability, little research has focused on the evaluation of such programs when delivered to large populations.Method The benchmarks recommended by Wiese, Stancliffe, and Hemsley (2005 Wiese M. Y., Stancliffe R. J., Hemsley B. Review of Positive Behaviour Support programs for families. CDDS, Sydney 2005, (Report prepared for the New South Wales Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care by the Centre for Developmental Disability Studies, University of Sydney) [Google Scholar]) were used to evaluate the wide‐scale implementation of the Signposts for Building Better Behaviour program (Hudson et al., 2001 Hudson A., Matthews J., Gavidia‐Payne S., Cameron C., Nankervis K., Radler G., Mildon R. Report to the Department of Human Services on the development and trialing of Signposts for Building Better Behaviour, a support package for parents of children with an intellectual disability and difficult behaviour. RMIT University, Melbourne 2001 [Google Scholar]).Results A total of 2,119 parents and carers participated in the program over an 18‐month period. Following the program, participants reported that they were less depressed, less anxious, and less stressed, were more confident and satisfied with managing their child, and were less hassled by their child's behaviour. They also reported that their child exhibited fewer difficult behaviours. Effect sizes ranged from small to large, depending on mode of delivery of the program. Average cost of delivery was $1,304 per participant.Conclusion When implemented on a wide‐scale basis, the Signposts program was effective in assisting families to manage their child's difficult behaviour. Limitations of the study are discussed.