The quality of relationships between people with intellectual disabilities and support staff Developing the Indicators of Rapport Measure

Background: The quality of relationships between support staff and people with intellectual disability (ID) is important if individuals are to receive high-quality support. Research describing features of the quality of these relationships is limited and hampered by a lack of measurement tools. This paper describes the development and piloting of a measure of relationship quality or rapport.

Materials and methods: The Indicators of Rapport Measure (IRM) was developed. Interactions between staff and three participants with ID, who presented challenging behaviour, were analysed using the IRM. IRM data were compared to rapport ratings made by staff and ID participant preferences.

Results: Systematic differences in rapport were identified by the IRM. Some support staff had a high IRM score, suggesting good rapport with one ID participant, and a low IRM score, suggesting poor rapport with another. There were limited similarities between scores on the IRM and comparison measures.

Conclusions: Improving rapport may lead to reductions in challenging behaviour and be a key strategy in a positive behavioural support (PBS) framework model. The IRM may provide a useful measure of the quality of relationship between staff and people with ID. However, its complexity may limit its application in everyday practice. Related, but simplified, measures should be developed