P. J. C. M. Embregts

P. J. C. M. Embregts
Tilburg University | UVT · "Tranzo" Scientific Center for Care and Welfare

PhD

About

319
Publications
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4,197
Citations

Publications

Publications (319)
Article
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The aim of this study was to determine the similarities and differences in social network characteristics, satisfaction and wishes with respect to the social network between people with mild or borderline intellectual disabilities (ID), people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a reference group. Data were gathered from 105 young adults livin...
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Social interactions between staff and clients with an intellectual disability contain synchronized turn-taking patterns. Synchrony can increase rapport and cooperation between individuals. This study investigated whether verbal interactional dominance and balance, an indication of attunement between staff and clients with ID, are associated with sy...
Article
Background Recent research addressed the relationship between staff behaviour and challenging behaviour of individuals with an intellectual disability (ID). Consequently, research on interventions aimed at staff is warranted. The present study focused on the effectiveness of a staff training aimed at emotional intelligence and interactions between...
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Background: This study explored the changes in self-determination-related constructs during transitions in the lives of persons with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Method: Questionnaires about autonomy support, basic psychological need expressions, and subjective well-being were filled out twice by family caregivers who...
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Introduction Although existing research has explored both the benefits and risks associated with social internet use amongst people with intellectual disabilities (ID), a comprehensive understanding of the underlying reasons for this engagement is still lacking. This systematic review synthesizes literature investigating the reasons for social inte...
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Background The Needs Assessment Framework (NAF) stimulates awareness of care staff to consider perspectives of clients with intellectual disabilities in decisions on involuntary care. We explored the effect of implementers' participation in a Virtual Community‐of‐Practice (VCoP) for designing implementation plans, on NAF implementation and staff aw...
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Involuntary care in intellectual disability care may be reduced by deployment of multidisciplinary consultation. The MultiDisciplinary Expertise Team (MDET) method proved effective in a previous trial on increasing involuntary care reduction. The current study aimed to examine how four organizations adapted MDET during implementation, and tested wh...
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Background Collaboration with healthcare professionals is crucial in arranging necessary lifelong support for people with intellectual disabilities. However, family members often face challenges when collaborating with healthcare professionals. Family members of people with severe and profound intellectual disabilities often encounter many professi...
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Background Acceptance of health care professionals is of paramount importance for the uptake and implementation of eHealth. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model is a widely used framework for studying health care professionals’ acceptance and actual use of eHealth among general client populations. However, there is l...
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The value of experts by experience within the field of intellectual disabilities is receiving greater recognition. This study explored the experiences of peer trainers regarding the impact of being a (1) trainee in a train the trainer course ( n = 9), and (2) peer trainer in a Dutch training course ( n = 6) aimed towards the self‐growth of people w...
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Purpose Addressing workforce shortages in operations and supply chain management (OSCM) necessitates adaptive measures by both individuals and organizations, with a pivotal role played by Human Resources (HR). This impact pathway delves into how healthcare organizations can effectively manage workforce shortages, informed by HR practices. Through a...
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Background Providing appropriate sexual support and education for adults with mild intellectual disabilities (IDs) is a source of considerable debate, resulting in diverse, non‐funded and potentially adverse practices. This study aims to identify a consensus among experts regarding what conditions are conducive to successful sexual support and educ...
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Background Timely detection of stress in people with dementia and people with an intellectual disability (ID) may reduce the occurrence of challenging behavior. However, detecting stress is often challenging as many long-term care (LTC) residents with dementia and residents with ID have communication impairments, limiting their ability to express t...
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Background: This study, grounded in self-determination theory, examined how satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence in people with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID) changed over a 4.5-year period. Additionally, it explored the association between life events across various domains (i.e. health, support an...
Article
Background: This study focuses on what feeling safe means for people with mild intellectual disabilities and severe challenging behaviour, and which factors affect their sense of safety. Method: Thematic analysis was used to analyse data collected during (1) ethnographic longitudinal research and (2) interviews and focus groups among professionals...
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Background This study aimed to identify perspectives of relatives and healthcare professionals regarding self‐determination support for people with severe or profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, highlighting agreements and differences in their viewpoints. Method Following a concept mapping study, online focus group meetings yielded sta...
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To enhance social inclusion of people with (mild) intellectual disabilities, policy tends to focus on increasing their informal supportive networks. Family members, mostly parents, are often the main providers of informal support to people with mild intellectual disabilities. Previous research has shown the utility of social capital as a theoretica...
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Background It can be challenging for support staff to develop meaningful moments of interaction with people with profound intellectual disabilities. Gathering information on observable behaviour characterising such meaningful moments is expected to be beneficial. Method Three staff‐client dyadic interactions were videotaped for 30 min. During revi...
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The study aimed to gain insight into knowledge management in the intellectual disabilities (ID) care sector during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We explored and described how knowledge producers, intermediaries, and knowledge users experienced knowledge management during this crisis situation, the responses to the specific knowledge needs in the ID‐care s...
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Background: Understanding and supporting basic psychological needs of persons with complex support needs is important but difficult because of communicative challenges . We developed and tested questionnaires to obtain parents’ perspectives on autonomy support and basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Method: Two paren...
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This study examined the experiences of working in collaborative relationships while conducting inclusive research involving persons with intellectual disabilities. More specifically, the study explored work relationships, social relationships, and factors that influence collaboration within inclusive research teams. Interviews were conducted with n...
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Background: Sexual health includes physical, emotional, mental, and social wellbeing related to sexuality. Given people with mild intellectual disabilities' reliance on relatives and support staff, it is important to explore the latter's understanding of sexual health. Method: Relatives (n = 7) and support staff (n = 15) of people with mild intelle...
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Background: Moving out of the family home is a key transition for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Yet there has been little research about parents' experiences of planning the move of their young adult offspring to residential settings offering 24-hour support. Method: Interviews were conducted with eleven parents whose of...
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Inclusive research—in which people with an intellectual disability both collaborate with researchers and work as researchers themselves—has gained increased attention over the last three decades. Although the foundational principles of conducting inclusive research are well‐established at this point, there is a relative dearth of insights concernin...
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Background Intellectual disability organisations in the Netherlands are seeking to improve clients’ quality of care by implementing methods that reduce involuntary care. This study described insights gained from sharing tacit and experiential implementation knowledge in Communities of Practice (CoP). Method In a participatory research, managers, p...
Article
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people with intellectual disabilities living in care facilities could not receive visitors. Health authorities suggested the use of digital social contact as an alternative for in-person visits. We examined how people with intellectual disabilities living in care facilities experienced the use of digital social co...
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ARTIKEL Kenmerken en ondersteuningsbehoeften van mensen met een licht of ernstig verstandelijke beperking en ernstig probleemgedrag en psychische problematiek Auteurs: P. Embregts, R. Didden, X. Moonen, G. Leusink en C. Schuengel 1. Inleiding Bij mensen met een verstandelijke beperking mani-festeert zich op jonge leeftijd een verminderd cogni-tief...
Preprint
BACKGROUND Acceptance of health care professionals is of paramount importance for the uptake and implementation of eHealth. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model is a widely used framework for studying health care professionals’ acceptance and actual use of eHealth among general client populations. However, there is l...
Preprint
BACKGROUND Timely detection of stress in people with dementia and people with an intellectual disability (ID) may reduce the occurrence of challenging behavior. However, detecting stress is often challenging as many long-term care (LTC) residents with dementia and residents with ID have communication impairments, limiting their ability to express t...
Article
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Background While epilepsy can decrease quality of life and self‐determination in individuals without intellectual disabilities, the impact of epilepsy on experienced self‐determination in people with intellectual disabilities remains unclear. Method We conducted semi‐structured interviews with six adults (four men, two women) aged 30–61 with mild...
Article
Introduction Stress and communication difficulties, both prone in people with dementia, are risk factors for challenging behaviour. Challenging behaviour negatively impacts the quality of life of people with dementia and their caregivers. Technology can help caregivers detect stress in people with dementia. However, implementation of these technolo...
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Purpose The level of participation of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in various forms of work, including daytime activities, appears to be suboptimal. Informal networks of people with ID constitute crucial forms of support, as they can significantly influence occupational choices and opportunities. This review aims to synthesize existin...
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, support workers and health professionals caring for and supporting people with intellectual disabilities (ID) required new knowledge on, for example, treatment and infection prevention. ID care organizations had to quickly share up-to-date knowledge and encourage its application. This study explored the contextual fact...
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Objectives: Within care organisations for people with intellectual disabilities, numerous strategies are employed to stimulate the application of new knowledge, and professionals play a key role in this process. Consequently, gaining insight into professionals' perspectives on how to encourage the application of new knowledge is vital, especially i...
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Background: This study explored the perceptions of staff for people with mild intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning and severe challenging behaviour in relation to the support they received at work from four groups of professionals (i.e. team leaders, managers, psychologists and other staff members). The team climate, su...
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People with severe or profound intellectual disabilities (IDs) are believed to experience low levels of self-determination, which negatively affects their quality of life. This systematic review describes existing interventions aimed to support self-determination or components thereof and synthesises evidence on the interventions' effects. Eight da...
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Unlabelled: People with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities face many barriers toward their sexual health. To promote sexual health and overcome these barriers, they need individualized forms of sexuality support and education. To align sexuality support and education insight is needed on their understanding of sexual health. The current...
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Introduction Digital social contact is increasingly being used, which accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to determine the consensus among stakeholders regarding recommendations for the use and facilitation of digital social contact for people with intellectual disabilities living in sheltered care facility homes. Methods Th...
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The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted the work of professionals who support people with intellectual disabilities. This study aimed to explore the experiences of outreach support staff supporting people with mild intellectual disabilities in the Netherlands during different phases of the pandemic between March 2020 and May 2021. Overall, seven...
Article
Background The high support needs of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities hamper their possibilities for self-determination. To support their self-determination understanding of what this means for this group is necessary. Method A three-round Delphi procedure with international experts was undertaken to operationalise self...
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Purpose Lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic may have had a disproportionate impact on the daily lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Many of them had to deal with limited social contacts for an extended period. This study explores in depth how people with intellectual disabilities in the Netherlands experienced their daily lives, in p...
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Background Mothers of young adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities that live at home are less likely to be on the radar of formal services. We explored the experience of these mothers over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A qualitative study using three case studies. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretative P...
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Background The establishment of a valuable and meaningful working alliance between people with mild intellectual disabilities (IDs) and healthcare professionals is critically important for improving both the quality of life and impact of therapy for people with mild IDs. Measuring the working alliance as a treatment or support component is therefo...
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This study aimed to examine the level of discrimination against people with intellectual disability during COVID-19, and assessed stereotypes, levels of familiarity with people with intellectual disability, and personal experiences with COVID-19 as potential correlates. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a large sample from the Dutch popul...
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Aggressive behaviour is often displayed by people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in forensic healthcare settings. Research on the causal beliefs (i.e. attribu-tions) of aggressive behaviour are commonly studied from the perspective of support staff. As aggressive behaviour is mostly a product of interaction between the person showing it and th...
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Background: Studies about teams of staff supporting people with intellectual disability have focused on team performance of existing teams. This study aimed to examine important factors in the process of setting up a new team of support staff. Specifically, we considered the process for a team that supports service users with mild intellectual dis...
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Background: The fulfilment of basic psychological needs (BPNs) is seen as an integral part of human self-determination, subjective wellbeing, and overall quality of life. However, the meaning of these psychological constructs for individuals with the most extensive support needs remains elusive. Methods: Primary relatives of nine people diagnosed w...
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Support staff and relatives are uncertain about multiple aspects of the sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities. Given that their attitudes embody positive and negative views, they can respectively support and restrict free sexual expression among people with intellectual disabilities and their potential for (intimate) relationships. A q...
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Background: High-quality, affective relationships are built on meaningful moments of interaction, which are challenging for support staff to establish with people with profound intellectual disabilities. Therefore, we explored what makes a moment of interaction meaningful to support staff and what circumstances facilitate meaningful moments of int...
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Background: Information regarding the common-daily support needs of older people with intellectual disabilities remains scarce, despite the necessity of such knowledge to the provision of adequate support. This exploratory study aims to identify the most important support needs. Method: A mixed-method design was conducted, in which 11 semi-struc...
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Inclusive research practices can lead to progress towards an inclusive society. With this study, we aimed to gain insight into dilemmas and catalysing processes within the long-term collaboration of an inclusive research duo: one non-academic researcher who lives with the label of intellectual disabilities and visual impairment, and one academic re...
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Purpose Within intellectual disability care organizations (IDCOs), it is vital that professionals share and apply knowledge to improve the quality of care for their service users. Given that chief executive officers (CEOs) play a pivotal role in enabling these processes, this paper aims to investigate both the underlying motives and strategies behi...
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BACKGROUND The multi-disciplinarity of long-term care for people with intellectual disabilities makes organisations seek stability and predictability, complicating implementing innovations. Interventions to implement a method for reducing restrictive measures were analysed through the lens of Normalisation Process Theory to understand the social me...
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This study examined the general public’s perceptions of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the elderly and people with intellectual disabilities as well how these perceptions relate to people’s level of familiarity and contact quality with these groups. A cross-sectional survey was administered to a sample of the Dutch population (n = 1458 and...
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The tacit practical knowledge of psychologists and support staff to foster a real connection between support staff and people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour was explored. Therefore, six dyads comprising individuals with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour and their support staff were video recorded during j...
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The sharing and application of knowledge in intellectual disabilities care are vital and challenging. Therefore, organizations providing care and support for people with intellectual disabilities use strategies to stimulate these processes. To optimize these strategies, we investigated the contextual factors that influence their execution. We condu...
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Background: Although the current preventive measures relating to COVID-19 can lead to challenges in the daily work of direct support workers (e.g. keeping 1.5 m distance), it remains vital to uphold the principles of person-centred care when working with older people with intellectual disabilities. The current study explores the extent to which dir...
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Background Client-centred care serves as the foundation for healthcare policy. Indeed, various instruments for assessing clients’ experiences of care and support are increasingly used to provide insights into the quality, and client-centred nature, of the care and support provided, which, in turn, aids the development of subsequent improvements. Th...
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Background The life expectancy of people with intellectual disabilities has increased. The implications of ageing have resulted in changes in their support needs and challenges to support staff. Access to evidence based strategies for support staff providing care to elderly with intellectual disabilities remains scarce. A systematic review was cond...
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The associations between physiological measures (i.e., heart rate and skin conductance) of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and severe antisocial spectrum behavior (AB) were meta-analyzed. We used an exhaustive partitioning of variables relevant to the ANS–AB association and investigated four highly relevant questions (on declining effect si...
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Background In the care of people with intellectual disability, support staff apply restrictions to people with moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) in several domains of daily life, such as restrictions on bedtimes or on the amount of food intake. Support staff may experience moral dilemmas applying these restrictions. In this respect, moral cas...
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Background. Due to the restrictive measures introduced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists working with people with mild intellectual disabilities have had to use video conferencing to continue to conduct their psychological assessments and therapy sessions. This qualitative study explored therapists’ experiences of using video conferencing...
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Introduction Families have a significant role in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors. However, it is not clear how actively families are involved when people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors are living in out-of-home care. This scoping review explored the frequency and type of family...
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Background The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected families who have children with intellectual disabilities (ID). Our aim was to explore the pandemic’s impact on Dutch migrant families who have children with ID, by interviewing these families’ support workers. Method A descriptive qualitative methodology was employed, which resulted in semi-...
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Background Sexual health remains at risk for people with an intellectual disability. Attitudes towards sexuality, its support and education have an important role in promoting sexual health. The current review aims to provide an overview of the current research on supportive and restrictive attitudes towards sexuality and its support of people with...
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Background: At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some parents in the Netherlands decided to bring their offspring with intellectual disabilities, who normally live in residential care, home. The present study explored why the mothers decided to bring their offspring home. Method: Interviews were carried out with seven mothers of adults with in...
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Background: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of psychologists working with people with intellectual disabilities during the initial stage of the COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands. Method: Five psychologists, who were affiliated with three intellectual disability services, participated in this descriptive qualitative study. Ov...
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Background During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people with disabilities living in home care facilities could not receive visitors. The use of virtual social contact has been recommended by health authorities. This systematic review examined the scientific evidence of the use and feasibility of information and communication techn...
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Background During the first COVID-19 lockdown period, various restrictions led to diminished access to both educational and professional support systems for children with an intellectual disability and their families. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and needs of parents caring for a child with an intellectual disability during...
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Families play an important role in the lives of people with intellectual disability as they do for everyone. However, little research has addressed the views of people with intellectual disability about their families by using self‐report. Individual family members may hold different views about their family relationships. Therefore, we used a soci...
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Background One would assume that infection outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic have a deleterious effect upon the physical, mental, and/or social functioning of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Methods A systematic search of four databases produced 18 articles. General information pertaining to the topics under consideration, inform...
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Background The use of eHealth, which has accelerated in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic, could contribute to the access to tailor‐made psychological interventions for people with intellectual disabilities. Method A scoping review was conducted on peer‐reviewed studies between 1996–2019. Results Thirty‐three studies reported on the use of psycho...
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Background Providing professional support for people with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities (IDs) is supposed to support their autonomous participation in society and, in turn, enhance their well‐being and quality of life. However, the motivation for seeking support may differ for people with mild to borderline IDs, varying in the extent...