Improving Independence for Individuals Learning Activities of Daily Living Using a Preference-Based Teaching Approach

Abstract

Independence has been a recent focus for home-based healthcare that aims to support the elderly and individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities, to remain living in their own homes in community. Independence and interaction with preferred items and activities for these individuals has previously been linked to increased quality of life. Quality of Life research has previously been measured by increased indices, reduced indices of happiness, and resistance to tasks when teaching individuals with profound multiple disabilities a meaningful functional task contributing to activities of daily living. Support has been found through preference-based teaching, incorporating social interaction, reinforcement through praise and access to preferred items and activities producing an enriched learning environment for both teacher and learner. Home-based support workers are often placed with individuals with profound multiple disabilities often trying to meet person centered planned goals, without a formal teaching approach to meet these goals. By utilising the preference based teaching approach for use by home-based support workers, this research aims to teach a functional skill of an activity of daily living to individuals with disabilities which will improve their independence and quality of life as measured by increased indices of happiness, reduced indices of happiness and resistance to task.