Quality of Life of Elderly People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in Chile

Abstract

Introduction: Currently, the concept of quality of life (QoL) is key to defining health policies aimed at the population with intellectual disability (ID). Most QoL studies in this field have been limited to people with ID with higher levels of functioning. This has resulted in little interest in evaluating QoL interventions in people with ID and high support needs, affecting their general well-being and conditioning the care received. This study seeks to explore the QoL levels of people with severe and profound ID, and to examine their differences according to some variables. Material and methods: From a quantitative-descriptive approach, the San Martín scale, based on the eight-dimensional QoL Model of Schalock and Verdugo, has been applied to 201 Chilean people with severe or profound ID between 60 and 86 years of age. Results: The data show how most of the participants have low levels of QoL, with self-determination and social inclusion being the most affected dimensions. When comparing the QoL score with the sociodemographic variables, there are differences according to the level of support needs and the type of center of which they are users. Conclusion: It is necessary to pay attention to the low levels of QoL because there is a notable risk that they lead to greater situations of vulnerability for this group. Likewise, it is convenient to advocate for a higher frequency in the support offered and to bring the spaces in which these people operate as close as possible to the community.