evidence and practice

Social inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in seven European countries

Rolf Magnus Grung Associate Professor, Department of Behavioural Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

Michael Brown Professor of Nursing, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Samuel Abdulla Lecturer, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland

Julien-Ferencz Kiss Associate Professor, Universitatea din Oradea, Oradea, Romania

Florica Orțan Professor, Universitatea din Oradea, Oradea, Romania

Anna Odrowaz-Coates Associate Professor, The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland

Mohammad Surfraz Senior lecturer, University of Hertfordshire, England

Jude Tah Lecturer, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Lynne Marsh Associate Professor, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Why you should read this article:

• To be aware that social inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is a focus of welfare policies and legislation in many countries
• To recognise that the implementation of policy and legislation for people with IDD is the shared responsibility of governments, and health, education and social care professionals
• To identify shared learning among students in health, education and social care programmes as one means of achieving social inclusion for people with IDD

Policies for people with disabilities, and specifically those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), have undergone significant changes during the past three decades. Many people with IDD experience social exclusion, which has significant implications for the individual, their family and wider society.

Today the focus is on accessing universal services, care and support in the community to facilitate social inclusion. Professions and professionals in health, education and social services implement social inclusion policy in the field of IDD. However, there is a lack of coherence between the policy intentions of social inclusion and the realities of professional practice. Educational collaborations involving academics, students and practitioners from the professions working with people who have IDD provide an opportunity for shared learning. These collaborations support the development of knowledge and understanding, and the barriers that need to be addressed to achieve social inclusion for people with IDD.

Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2020.e2120

Peer review

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

Correspondence

rgrung@oslomet.no

Conflict of interest

None declared

Grung RM, Brown M, Abdulla S et al (2020) Social inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in seven European countries. Learning Disability Practice. doi: 10.7748/ldp.2020.e2120

Published online: 10 December 2020

Keywords :

accessible information - diversity - education - equality - inclusion - interprofessional learning - learning disability - professional

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26 November 2020 / Vol 23 issue 6

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