Meal Preparation as a Daily Living Skills of Persons with Intellectual Disability

Adaptivno ponašanje predstavlja skup pojmovnih, socijalnih i praktiĉnih vještina koje je osoba nauĉila u svrhu funkcioniranja u svakidašnjem ţivotu. Ograniĉenja u adaptivnom ponašanju utjeĉu na tipiĉna, uobiĉajena ponašanja u svakodnevnom ţivotu i sposobnosti snalaţenja u ţivotnim promjenama i zahtjevima okoline. Podruĉja adaptivnog ponašanja su: komunikacija, briga o sebi, stanovanje, snalaţenje u okolini, samousmjeravanje, zdravlje, sigurnost, slobodno vrijeme, rad, funkcionalna akademska znanja. Vještine brige o sebi, vještine svakodnevnog ţivota posebno su znaĉajne za odrasle osobe s intelektualnim teškoćama u kontekstu njihova boljeg ostvarivanja uloga odrasle dobi. Kako bi odrasla osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama imala bolju kvalitetu ţivota vrlo je vaţno omogućiti joj usvajanje praktiĉnih vještina te rehabilitaciju usmjeriti na jaĉanje samostalnosti i autonomije. U Hrvatskoj je aktualan proces deinstitualizacije i ukljuĉivanja osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama u stanovanje uz podršku u zajednici. U takvom modelu organiziranog stanovanja osoba bi trebala sudjelovati u svim poslovima u kućanstvu, odnosno domaćinstvu pa tako i u procesu svakodnevne pripreme obroka. Osobe s intelektualnim teškoćama u institucionalnom sustavu skrbi nemaju dovoljno prilika za obavljanje svrsishodnih aktivnosti svakodnevnog ţivota i razvoja maksimalno mogućih potencijala na tom polju zbog objektivnih okolnosti koje ukljuĉuju i nedostatnu podršku od strane za to obuĉenog osoblja. Stoga je ovaj rad usmjeren na pouĉavanje i obuĉavanje spomenutim vještinama osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama koje su potencijalni kandidati za deinstitucionalizaciju i osamostaljivanje u daljnjem ţivotu. Cilj rada bio je evaluacija programa pripreme obroka kao vještine svakodnevnog ţivota osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama. Glavni cilj istraţivanja usmjeren je na uvaţavanje perspektive korisnika o usvojenim vještinama pripreme obroka, zadovoljstvu provedenim programom, ostvarenim oĉekivanjima te vlastitoj procjeni ostvarenih vještina. U aktivnostima programa sudjelovalo je 5 osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama, korisnika Centra za odgoj i obrazovanje Zajezda, ukljuĉenih u program radnog osposobljavanja za pomoćnog kuhara/slastiĉara. Radionice su kreirane u skladu s razvojnim znaĉajkama i potencijalima, interesima i potrebama sudionika, a obuhvaćale su pripremu razliĉitih jednostavnijih jela s krajnjim ciljem osposobljavanja za pripremu cjelovitog obroka. U svrhu evaluacije programa primijenjene su tehnike intervjua i strukturirane opservacije. Prije poĉetka provedbe programa primijenjena je inicijalna procjena oĉekivanja, tijekom provedbe svakodnevno se ispunjavala dnevna evaluacija, a po završetku je provedena finalna procjena ispunjenosti oĉekivanja. Sukladno primijenjenoj metodi prikupljanja podataka i naĉinu provedbe istraţivanja, odabran je kvalitativni pristup obradi i interpretaciji podataka. U kvalitativnoj analizi prikupljenih podataka korištena je analiza okvira kao analitiĉka metoda.Adaptive behavior is a set of conceptual, social and practical skills that a person has to learn in order to function in daily life. The limitations in adaptive behavior affect the typical, usual kinds of daily life behavior and the capabilities of coping with life changes and the demands of the environment. The areas of adaptive behavior are: communication, taking care of oneself, habitation, coping with the environment, self-direction, health, security, free time, work, and functional academic knowledge. The skills that allow individuals to take care of themselves, as well as daily life skills are especially important for adults with intellectual disabilities, so that they can assume adult functions. In order for adults with intellectual disabilities to have better quality of life, it is very important to enable them to acquire practical skills and to focus their rehabilitation on the strengthening of their independence and autonomy. In Croatia, the process of deinstitutionalization and inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities into community living is currently taking place. In this type of organized living, the individual should participate in all of the housework, including the daily process of meal preparation. Individuals with intellectual disabilities in the institutional care system are not given enough opportunities to take part in purpose-serving daily activities and to maximally develop their potentials in that field, due to objective circumstances, including insufficient support of the trained staff. Therefore, this thesis focuses on instructing individuals with intellectual disabilities, who are potential candidates for deinstitutionalization and future independence, in the aforementioned skills. The aim of this thesis was the evaluation of a program of meal preparation as a daily life skill of individuals with intellectual disabilities. The main aim was to take into account the users’ opinion on the acquired meal preparation skills; the level of satisfaction with the program that was carried out; the fulfillment of their expectations; and the evaluation of their own acquired skills. Five individuals with intellectual disabilities took part in the activities, all users of the Zajezda Special Educational Centre, who partake in a vocational training program for assistant cook/baker. The workshops were developed in line with the developmental characteristics and potentials, as well as the interests and needs of the participants, and they comprised of the preparation of various rather simple dishes, with the ultimate goal of training the participants in preparing a complete meal. For the evaluation of the program, the techniques that were used were interview and structured observation. Before the implementation of the program, an initial evaluation of the participants’ expectations was carried out; during the implementation there were daily evaluations; and after the implementation, a final evaluation of the fulfillment of the participants’ expectations was realized. In accordance with the method of data collection and research implementation, a qualitative approach to the analysis and interpretation of the data was chosen. In the qualitative analysis of the data collected, frame analysis was used as the analytical method