Improving palliative care for people with intellectual disability: a self-assessment of policies, practices and competencies in care services

Table 2 Background characteristics of professionals

	n	%
Age (n = 298)
< 30 years	65	22
30–49 years	115	38
≥ 50 years	118	40
Sex (n = 292)
Female	264	90
Male	25	9
Prefer not to say	3	1
Profession (n = 328)*
Daily care staff	222	68
Social worker (52%)
Nurse (48%)
Nursing staff	29	8
Manager	20	6
Behavioural expert (e.g. psychologist)	12	4
Allied health professional (e.g. physiotherapist, speech therapist, dietician)	6	2
Physician	5	2
Specialised physician for people with ID (n = 2)
General practitioner (n = 3)
Spiritual counselor (pastor)	4	1
Palliative care specialist	3	1
Other (e.g. student, assistant, night care worker, trainer, musical therapist)	27	8
Work experience in ID care (n = 296)
< 1 year	12	4
1–5 years	81	28
5–10 years	41	14
10–20 years	78	27
> 20 years	82	28
Previous training in palliative care (n = 296)
No	214	72
Yes	82	28
Need for training (or more training) in palliative care (n = 295)
No	77	26
Yes	218	74

ISSN: 1472-684X