A qualitative study of organisational support and staff stress in intellectual disability services: Left to cope alone

BACKGROUND: Support from frontline managers and the organisation is crucial for staff wellbeing and the ability to cope with behaviours that challenge services. The aim of this study was to identify organisational factors impacting staff wellbeing and service quality in Swedish group homes and day programs. METHOD: 96 direct care staff (64 women, 32 men) were interviewed using the problem-centred interview method. The participants were actively involved in the thematic analysis in an interactive process. RESULTS: Participants felt they were abandoned by the organisation, left to solve complex situations without support. This theme was supported by three subthemes: absent frontline leadership; not being part of significant decision-making; and management's focus on budget. CONCLUSION: A distant organisation, with largely absent frontline managers, left staff to deal with the downstream consequences of decisions they were not part of. Feeling thus disenfranchised seemed to cause more stress than coping with distressed behaviours.