Co-development of adaptive daily activities and participation tracking – intellectual disability (ADAPT-ID): a tri-banded assessment for early dementia-related change

Purpose This paper aims to describe the early-stage development and co-production of adaptive daily activities and participation tracking – intellectual disability (ADAPT-ID), a brief observational tool designed to support identification of subtle, early dementia-related changes in adults with intellectual disability. Design/methodology/approach A three-phase co-production design was used. Phase 1 synthesised evidence from systematic reviews and commonly used dementia assessment tools to establish a conceptual framework and generate an initial item set. Phase 2 involved iterative consultation with clinicians, caregivers and people with intellectual disability to refine domains, wording, layout and a selective tri-banded scoring approach tailored to mild, moderate and severe/profound intellectual disability. Phase 3 comprised a usability, acceptability and social validity review, including ratings of clarity, relevance and practicality alongside qualitative feedback. Findings This process resulted in a draft version of ADAPT-ID comprising six domains and approximately 31 items. Iterative refinement improved item clarity, reduced duplication and strengthened the tri-banded scoring anchors. Usability feedback indicated good clarity, relevance and feasibility for routine use, with no items identified as confusing or inappropriate. Minor adjustments to wording, layout and examples were made. Originality/value ADAPT-ID integrates co-production with a selective tri-banded scoring approach to support structured documentation and interpretation of subtle functional and behavioural change across heterogeneous intellectual disability profiles.