Katherine E. Johnson, University of Delaware.
Caitlin E. Bailey, National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities.
Intellect Dev Disabil. 2022 Jun 1;60(3):199-211. doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-60.3.199.
The roles and responsibilities of direct support professionals (DSPs) are evolving. This qualitative study explores how DSPs perceive their role and explores those perceptions across DSPs working in traditional, intermediate, and innovative agencies, as defined for the study. Examining 440 DSP survey responses and interviews with 24 DSPs, we found that DSPs working in more individualized settings tended to have expanded role functions (focused on promoting self-determination and community engagement). DSPs working in more traditional settings tended to have more care-focused role functions (concentrated on activities of daily living, medication administration, and health and safety). The role perception of DSPs at intermediate agencies and role conflict due to competing responsibilities demonstrate a need to systemically transform future service delivery.
直接支持专业人员（DSP）的角色和职责正在不断发展。本定性研究探讨了 DSP 如何看待自己的角色，并在从事传统、中级和创新机构工作的 DSP 之间进行了探讨，这些机构是为这项研究定义的。通过对 440 名 DSP 调查回复和 24 名 DSP 的访谈，我们发现，在更个性化的环境中工作的 DSP 往往具有扩展的角色功能（侧重于促进自我决定和社区参与）。在更传统环境中工作的 DSP 往往具有更多以护理为重点的角色功能（集中于日常生活活动、药物管理以及健康和安全）。中级机构中 DSP 的角色认知以及因竞争职责而产生的角色冲突，表明需要系统地改变未来的服务提供方式。
