The Use of physical interventions with people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour – The experiences of service users and staff members

Background The views of both service users with intellec-tual disability and their support staff on the use of phys-ical interventions are largely unknown. The research that does exist describes a largely negative pattern of responses. The present study aimed to explore the perso-nal impact of receiving and implementing physical inter-ventions, and also how service users and staff felt the use of such procedures impacted on each other. Method Eight service user/staff pairs were interviewed about their experiences of physical intervention within 1 week of their mutual involvement in a behavioural incident requiring restraint use. A qualitative methodo-logy was employed to obtain views on a non-pain com-pliance approach to physical intervention. Results Service user and staff experiences were intrinsic-ally linked, highlighting the interactional nature of phys-ical interventions. It was apparent that experiences of physical intervention were dependent on far more than the application of techniques alone. Conclusions Participants ’ accounts were primarily negat-ive. Service user and staff experiences were clearly affec-ted by their appraisals of each other’s behaviour throughout the physical intervention process