Exploring practice leadership in intellectual disability services: a concept analysis
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Exploring practice leadership in intellectual disability services: a concept analysis

Ruth Ryan Associate professor, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Owen Doody Associate professor, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Eileen Carey Associate professor, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Ann Gilmartin Leadership adviser, National Clinical Leadership Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, Health Service Executive, Dublin, Ireland
Marie Kilduff Interim director, National Clinical Leadership Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, Health Service Executive, Dublin, Ireland
Maeve O’Halloran Independent disability consultant, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland

Why you should read this article:
  • To improve your knowledge of the methods of concept analysis

  • To explore and reflect on the essential attributes of practice leadership

  • To enhance your awareness of how practice leadership can enhance the quality of life of service users

The practice of health and social care workers who support people with intellectual disabilities is paramount to the quality of life and autonomy of those they support. The practice leader, usually a front-line manager, has a central role in creating a positive organisational culture that values person-centred care, fosters staff empowerment and promotes continuous learning and improvement to ensure positive outcomes for service users. The authors of this article conducted a concept analysis to identify the attributes of practice leadership in intellectual disability services and thereby support staff working in this field to reflect on the attributes of this type of leadership. The authors detail the concept analysis process and discuss the three essential attributes of practice leadership in intellectual disability services that they identified from the literature – embedding service values, being person-oriented and delivering active support.

Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2024.e2252

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

Ruth.Ryan@ul.ie

Conflict of interest

None declared

Ryan R, Doody O, Carey E et al (2024) Exploring practice leadership in intellectual disability services: a concept analysis. Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2024.e2252

Published online: 17 October 2024

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