School of Nursing and Midwifery Scholarly Impact Report 2021

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CATHERINE MCAULEY SCHOOL OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY, UCC

PART A: TEACHING, CONTRIBUTION TO COMMUNITY AND PRACTICE, AWARDS

Intellectual disability nursing team collaborating with staff and service users in COPE Foundation on PPI project to support lifestyle decision making by people with intellectual disability People with intellectual disability have a right to be involved in and make decisions that affect them. Evidence suggests this group experience challenges related to health literacy and health promotion materials can be inaccessible. Don’t Mention the Diet! is a health promotion initiative that was co-produced with people with intellectual disability. A collaborative patient and public involvement (PPI) approach was adopted to integrate the knowledge and experience of the team members in designing and delivering a health promotion module that educated and empowered students around lifestyle decision making. The team included three adults with mild or moderate intellectual disability and five intellectual disability nurses, four lecturers from the School of Nursing and Midwifery and one who works as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in communication. This project resulted in the design of an eight-month module with a double helix structure intertwining educational and personal development elements. It demonstrates howactive involvement of people with intellectual disability in the design and provision of appropriate educational supports can assist them to make informed decisions about their diets and lifestyle. The team published an article on the project in a Special Issue of the British Journal of Learning Disabilities: Education as a catalyst for the social inclusion of people with learning disabilities and Dr Anne-Marie Martin will present the project at

a webinar hosted by the Guest Editors and University of Derby in March 2022. The purpose of this webinar is to ‘recognise the capacities and capabilities of peoplewith intellectual disabilities as trustworthy agents of contribution in society’.

Lead and Team Members

Dr. Anne-Marie Martin, Ms. Síle Divane, Ms. Sandra Twomey, Ms. Lucia O’Neill, Mr. Joseph McCarthy, Ms. Caroline Egan, Dr. Caroline Dalton and Dr. Maria Caples Selected Reference • Article: Martin, A. M., Divane, S., Twomey, S., O’Neill, L., McCarthy, J., Egan, C., Dalton, C. and Caples, M. (2021), Don’t Mention the Diet! A health promotion initiative to support healthy diet and lifestyle decision-making by people with intellectual disability. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(4), 475-481. https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12382

Accessible Video Abstract: https://youtu.be/OyiJCi2qxuQ

Highlights • The provision of accessible and carefully designed educational supports can support and empower individuals with intellectual disability to make decisions about their lifestyle. • The inclusion of PPI contributors with intellectual disability assists in the design of relevant and appropriate educational support.