‘It's been adapted rather than impacted’: A qualitative evaluation of the impact of Covid‐19 restrictions on the positive behavioural support of people with an intellectual disability and/or autism

BACKGROUND: We used a qualitative approach to explore the experiences of social care staff regarding the provision of positive behavioural support (PBS) to people with an intellectual disability at the height of the Covid‐19 restrictions. METHOD: We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 19 staff who had recently completed a PBS workforce development programme. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three themes were identified in the context of the restrictions: The challenges to maintaining quality of life and PBS of the people being supported and staff attempts to overcome these; the ways in which PBS and behaviour support plans were implemented and the impact on behaviours that challenge; the ways in which PBS principles were applied at organisational levels to help to understand and address staff stress and distress. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the staff identified many unexpected benefits of the restrictions. The results are discussed in the context of the study limitations.