Quality transition strategies facilitating the transition from teenage to adulthood for persons with intellectual disabilities and their family carers = 協助智障青少年過渡至成人就業服務的優質策略研究
Project title
Quality transition strategies facilitating the transition from teenage to adulthood for persons with intellectual disabilities and their family carers = 協助智障青少年過渡至成人就業服務的優質策略研究
Principal Investigator
Department
Grant Awarding Body
Research Grants Council
Grant Type
Faculty Development Scheme
Project Code
UGC/FDS15/H09/22
Amount awarded
HK$635,387
Funding Year
2022-2023
Duration of the Project
18 months
Status
On-going
Abstract
In Hong Kong, special school leavers with a mild to moderate level of intellectual disabilities are waiting to transition to post-school placements. Although the Hong Kong government has always subsidized special schools and social service agencies to provide transition support for people with intellectual disabilities (PIDs), there is still a lack of seamless transition between special school and post-school placements. International studies have found that problems commonly encountered by PIDs and their family carers include long waiting time for post-school placements, low levels of parental participation in transition planning, and lack of cooperation between school, family, and social service system. To adopt an ecological perspective, different types of transition strategies can be provided to enhance the quality of transition at the individual, family, school, and societal level. Transition strategies can be described as the ways to facilitate transition, and develop and enhance inter-professional collaboration, as well as inter-agency partnership or improvement of existing policies that may influence the transition. Research objectives include (a) to examine factors that promote quality transition between special school and post-school placements for PIDs and their family carers; (b) to investigate the components of overall transition plan and the type of quality transition strategies; (c) to examine the relationship between transition strategies, psychological well-being, and quality of life for PIDs and their family carers; (d) to recommend quality transition strategies which can be adopted by special schools and social service agencies that will help the transition. Method: A mixed-method research study will be adopted. Qualitative data will be collected to explore the problems experienced by PIDs and their family carers during the transition period. Moreover, the data will be used to generate questionnaire items measuring transition strategies. A quantitative survey will be followed to examine the relationship between variables such as transition strategies, parental stress, quality of life, and psychological well-being of PIDs and their family carers. The study will discover the components of quality transition strategies and factors that promote quality transition.