Priorities for Community Mobility Interventions for Adolescents & Young Adults With Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities

PURPOSE: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face significant challenges in transitioning to adulthood. 1 Barriers to community mobility often impact transition outcomes such as employment, independent living, and community participation that enhance quality of life and reduce societal costs. 2 This research aimed to identify priorities for a community mobility intervention for AYA with IDD based on input from people with lived experience and community partners.

DESIGN: Nine focus groups were conducted in urban, suburban, and rural settings. Participants included AYA with IDD, parents/caregivers, and service providers. Each group contributed to a participatory development process to identify community mobility intervention priorities and content. Analysis focused on integrating results across groups to identify priorities. Data was coded and counts of priorities reported were determined to establish core content for the intervention.

RESULTS: The study included 94 participants: 34 individuals with IDD (65% male, 41% Black, 50% White), 29 parents (83% female, 59% White, 38% Black), and 31 service providers (74% female, 74% White, 26% Black). Focus group findings revealed overlapping and distinct priorities among groups. Safety emerged as the top priority for parents and service providers and second top for AYA with IDD. AYA with IDD also emphasized the significance of transportation skills and financial considerations, while parents and service providers highlighted safety, problem-solving, and awareness skills. These results will inform the development of a community mobility intervention for AYA with IDD.

CONCLUSION: The results identified priorities for the development of an OT intervention to help AYA with IDD identify mobility goals and develop necessary travel skills to overcome transportation barriers and enhance their independence and participation in the community.

References

Ally, S., Boyd, K., Abells, D., Amaria, K., Hamdani, Y., Loh, A., Niel, U., Sacks, S., Shea, S., Sullivan, W. F., & Hennen, B. (2018). Improving transition to adulthood for adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Proactive developmental and systems perspective. Canadian Family Physician Medecin de Famille Canadien, 64(Suppl 2), S37–S43. PMID: 29650743

Brusilovskiy, E., Klein, L. A., Townley, G., Snethen, G., McCormick, B., Hiremath, S. V., & Salzer, M. S. (2020). Examining the relationship between community mobility and participation using GPS and self-report data. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 265, 113539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113539