Getting by with a little help from my friends: siblings report on the amount of informal support received by adults with disabilities

Abstract

Background: Given decreased formal supports for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) in many industrialised countries, we need to know more about informal, or natural, supports.

Method: Adult siblings (N = 632) responded to a web-based survey about the informal supports received by their brothers/sisters with IDDs.

Results: Informal support was organised by the life domains of recreation, employment and housing. Adults with IDDs received the most extensive informal support in recreation and the least extensive in housing; low levels characterised all domains. Individuals with greater numbers of supporters in a domain experienced higher levels of support, as did those residing with family and who received more state-supported, formal benefits.

Conclusions: Unpaid, informal supports supplement the support needs of adults with IDDs. Connections between formal and informal supports for adults with IDDs need to be examined further.

Keywords: employment; formal supports; housing; informal supports; intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs); recreation.