Staffing numbers and active support: A case study

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of staffing levels (one or two staff) on the amount of assistance provided to residents in one group home, and associated levels of resident engagement in activities prior to and following the implementation of active support. Design/methodology/approach - Data on staff assistance and resident engagement were gathered by direct observation across six pre-test and post-test 80-minute sessions, using palmtop computers. Percentage of all non-overlapping data, an index of effect size, was used to analyse these data. Findings - There was no clear benefit from additional staffing prior to active support training, in terms of staff as..