ABSTRACT

Background: Canada was the first country to develop legal mechanisms that allow for supported decision making, and little research has explored how decision making is supported in this context. This research aimed to understand how seven people with intellectual disabilities, living in two Canadian provinces, were supported with their decision making.

Method: The research used constructivist grounded theory methodology, interviewing and observing the decision making of seven people with mild to severe intellectual disabilities and 25 decision supporters.

Results: A common process of decision-making support was discovered, involving dynamic interaction between the person’s will and preferences and supporters’ responses. This interaction was influenced by five factors: the experiences and attributes the person and their supporter brought to the process; the quality of their relationship; the decision-making environment and the nature and consequences of the decision.

Conclusion: The highly individualised and contextually dependent nature of decision-making support has implications for supported decision-making practice.

摘要

背景：加拿大是第一个制定法律机制以支持决策的国家，很少有研究探讨在这种情况下如何支持决策。这项研究旨在了解居住在加拿大两个省的七名智障人士的决策如何得到支持。

方法：本研究采用建构主义扎根的理论方法，采访并观察了7名轻度至重度智力障碍者和25名决策支持者的决策。

结果：发现了一个共同的决策支持过程，其中涉及人的意愿，偏好和支持者的反应之间的动态交互。这种互动受到五个因素的影响：该人及其支持者带给流程的经验和属性；他们的关系质量；决策环境以及决策的性质和后果。

结论：决策支持的高度个性化和上下文相关性对支持的决策实践具有影响。