All Outputs (31)

Did I Take My Medication Today? Understanding Medicine Adherence for Adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Through Participatory Research (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Paterson, R., Adbulla, S., Spassiani, N., & Higgins, A. (2024, August). Did I Take My Medication Today? Understanding Medicine Adherence for Adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Through Participatory Research. Poster presented at IASSIDD, 17th World Congress: Reimagining Connections, Chicago, USA

Background: Medicine non-adherence has a significant impact on quality of life, mortality, and morbidity. In 2003, the World Health Organisation stated that medicines optimization may have a greater impact on chronic disease management compared to an... Read More about Did I Take My Medication Today? Understanding Medicine Adherence for Adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Through Participatory Research.

Making Survey Research Accessible for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2024)
Book Chapter
Friedman, C., & Spassiani, N. A. (2024). Making Survey Research Accessible for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. In G. Bennett, & E. Goodall (Eds.), The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Disability (1-10). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40858-8_77-1

Historically, research about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has been conducted through proxies because of ableist assumptions about people with IDD’s abilities to contribute to research and methodological challenges to... Read More about Making Survey Research Accessible for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

‘Now that I am connected this isn't social isolation, this is engaging with people’: Staying connected during the COVID‐19 pandemic (2022)
Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A., Becaj, M., Miller, C., Hiddleston, A., Hume, A., & Tait, S. (2023). ‘Now that I am connected this isn't social isolation, this is engaging with people’: Staying connected during the COVID‐19 pandemic. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 51(1), 99-110. https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12478

Background
The COVID-19 global pandemic has put adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities at greater risk of being socially excluded due to physical distancing. Technology has been looked at as a tool for adults with intellectual/developme... Read More about ‘Now that I am connected this isn't social isolation, this is engaging with people’: Staying connected during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

‘It will make more people feel included if they can talk to them in their first language’: The experience of university students with an intellectual disability engaging in a formal Irish Sign Language Course (2021)
Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A., Clince, M., & Ó Murchadha, N. (2021). ‘It will make more people feel included if they can talk to them in their first language’: The experience of university students with an intellectual disability engaging in a formal Irish Sign Language Course. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(4), 467-474. https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12417

Accessible Summary

Learning a second language can provide people with more opportunities to be included in society. For example, they could have more opportunities for employment, social activities and travel.
However, people with intelle... Read More about ‘It will make more people feel included if they can talk to them in their first language’: The experience of university students with an intellectual disability engaging in a formal Irish Sign Language Course.

Experiences of health and aging for younger adults in long-term care: a social-ecological multi-method approach (2020)
Journal Article
Barber, B. V., Weeks, L. E., Spassiani, N. A., & Meisner, B. A. (2021). Experiences of health and aging for younger adults in long-term care: a social-ecological multi-method approach. Disability and Society, 36(3), 468-487. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1751074

There is an increasing number of younger adults with disabilities becoming residents of long-term care (LTC) homes across Atlantic Canada. Moving younger adults into LTC is less-than-ideal and presents an immediate challenge for LTC homes to meet the... Read More about Experiences of health and aging for younger adults in long-term care: a social-ecological multi-method approach.

Emergency department nurses’ knowledge, skills, and comfort related to caring for patients with intellectual disabilities (2020)
Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A., Abou Chacra, M. S., Selick, A., Durbin, J., & Lunsky, Y. (2020). Emergency department nurses’ knowledge, skills, and comfort related to caring for patients with intellectual disabilities. International Emergency Nursing, 50, Article 100851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ienj.2020.100851

Introduction
Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are more likely to visit the emergency department (ED) more frequently than their counterparts without ID. Nurses play an integral role in caring for all patients in the ED, including thos... Read More about Emergency department nurses’ knowledge, skills, and comfort related to caring for patients with intellectual disabilities.

The Impact of Organizational Supports on the Person‐Centered Health of People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2019)
Journal Article
Friedman, C., Rizzolo, M. C., & Spassiani, N. A. (2020). The Impact of Organizational Supports on the Person‐Centered Health of People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 17(1), 70-78. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12320

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have significantly poorer health than the general population. A key threat to health programs for people with IDD is commitment from stakeholders, especially service organizations. The aim... Read More about The Impact of Organizational Supports on the Person‐Centered Health of People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

What is and isn’t working: Factors involved in sustaining community-based health and participation initiatives for people aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities (2019)
Journal Article
Spassiani, N., Meisner, B., Abou Chacra, M. S., Heller, T., & Hammel, J. (2019). What is and isn’t working: Factors involved in sustaining community-based health and participation initiatives for people aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 32(6), 1465-1477. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12640

As people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) age it is important that I/DD agencies are prepared to support healthy aging in homes and in communities. This study explored supports and barriers to sustaining community-based health... Read More about What is and isn’t working: Factors involved in sustaining community-based health and participation initiatives for people aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

An Ageing Intellectual Disability Population: Exploring How Intellectual Disability Agencies Are Supporting Healthy Ageing (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Spassiani, N., Meisner, B., Heller, T., & Hammel, J. An Ageing Intellectual Disability Population: Exploring How Intellectual Disability Agencies Are Supporting Healthy Ageing. Presented at The World Congress of the International Association for the Scientif ic Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) 2019, Glasgow, UK

Introduction: Providing support for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) to remain in the community as they age is a relatively new concept for ID agencies. The purpose of this study was to explore how ID agencies are engaging people with ID li... Read More about An Ageing Intellectual Disability Population: Exploring How Intellectual Disability Agencies Are Supporting Healthy Ageing.

It's Okay to Teach People with an Intellectual Disability about Their Disability (2018)
Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A. (2018). It's Okay to Teach People with an Intellectual Disability about Their Disability. The Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 31(3), 287-294

This paper introduces a newly accredited university programme for students with an intellectual disability (ID). The curriculum is largely based on disability studies pedagogy that creates awareness of the social, political, and economic factors that... Read More about It's Okay to Teach People with an Intellectual Disability about Their Disability.

Self-management of health by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (2018)
Journal Article
Friedman, C., Rizzolo, M. C., & Spassiani, N. A. (2019). Self-management of health by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 32(3), 600-609. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12554

Background
Self‐management of health includes people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) playing a key role in health management in collaborating with healthcare professionals.
Methods
This study analysed data from Personal Outc... Read More about Self-management of health by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Community Based Dietician Services for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2018)
Journal Article
Friedman, C., & Spassiani, N. (2018). Community Based Dietician Services for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 15(4), 343-349. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12253

Background. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience significantly poorer health outcomes and a shorter life expectancy when compared to the general population. People with IDD are also more likely to become over weigh... Read More about Community Based Dietician Services for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Developing Post-Secondary Education Programmes for People with Intellectual Disablities at Trinity College, the University of Dublin, Ireland (2018)
Book Chapter
Kubiak, J., Spassiani, N., Shevlin, M., & O’Keeffe, M. (2018). Developing Post-Secondary Education Programmes for People with Intellectual Disablities at Trinity College, the University of Dublin, Ireland. In P. O’Brien, M. L. Bonati, F. Gadow, & R. Slee (Eds.), People with Intellectual Disability Experiencing University Life: Theoretical Underpinnings, Evidence and Lived Experience (141-153). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004394551_009

Wellness and Health Promotion (2018)
Book Chapter
Vasudevan, V., & Spassiani, N. (2018). Wellness and Health Promotion. In Disability In American Life An Encyclopedia Of Concepts, Policies, and Controversies: Wellness And Health Promotion (705-708). Bloomsbury Publishing

Health Determinants (2018)
Book Chapter
Spassiani, N. (in press). Health Determinants. In Disability In American Life: An Encyclopedia Of Concepts, Policies, and Controversies: Health Determinants (333-335). Bloomsbury Publishing

Using Photovoice as a Participatory Method to Identify and Strategize Community Participation with People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2018)
Journal Article
Angell, A. M., Heffron, J. L., Spassiani, N. A., Heffron, J., Hammel, J., & Angell, A. (2018). Using Photovoice as a Participatory Method to Identify and Strategize Community Participation with People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 25(5), 382-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2018.1502350

Background: Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) experience barriers to community participation, yet their insider experiences of environmental barriers and supports to participation are largely absent from the literature.... Read More about Using Photovoice as a Participatory Method to Identify and Strategize Community Participation with People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Examining Chronic Disease, Pain-Related Impairment, and Physical Activity Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Canada: Implications for Current and Future Aging Populations (2017)
Journal Article
Meisner, B. A., Linton, V., Séguin, A., & Spassiani, N. A. (2017). Examining Chronic Disease, Pain-Related Impairment, and Physical Activity Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Canada: Implications for Current and Future Aging Populations. Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation, 33(3), 182-192. https://doi.org/10.1097/tgr.0000000000000154

Purpose: With high levels of chronic disease (CD) and pain-related functional impairment (PFI), and low levels of physical activity (PA) among middle-aged and older adults, it is important to investigate ways to design age- and health condition-appro... Read More about Examining Chronic Disease, Pain-Related Impairment, and Physical Activity Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Canada: Implications for Current and Future Aging Populations.

Likes, dislikes, supports and barriers: the experience of students with disabilities in university in Ireland (2017)
Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A., Ó Murchadha, N., Clince, M., Biddulph, K., Conradie, P., Costello, F., Cox, L., Daly, E., Daly, O., Middleton, C., McCabe, K., Philips, M., Soraghan, S., & Tully, K. (2017). Likes, dislikes, supports and barriers: the experience of students with disabilities in university in Ireland. Disability and Society, 32(6), 892-912. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1320272

There are more students with disabilities going to college than ever before. It is important that colleges understand the experiences of students with disabilities when in university. This research project was carried out by 12 students with intellec... Read More about Likes, dislikes, supports and barriers: the experience of students with disabilities in university in Ireland.

Getting Out There: Community Support Services for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Medicaid HCBS Waivers (2017)
Journal Article
Friedman, C., & Spassiani, N. A. (2017). Getting Out There: Community Support Services for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Medicaid HCBS Waivers. Inclusion, 5(1), 33-44. https://doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-5.1.33

Despite an increased number of community-based services, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) continue to struggle with meaningful community participation and often feel they are not valued community members. This study exami... Read More about Getting Out There: Community Support Services for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Medicaid HCBS Waivers.

“Why Are You Here? Can’t You Cope at Home?” The Psychiatric Crisis of People With Intellectual Disabilities and the Community’s Response (2017)
Journal Article
Spassiani, N., Abou Chacra, M. S., & Lunsky, Y. (2017). “Why Are You Here? Can’t You Cope at Home?” The Psychiatric Crisis of People With Intellectual Disabilities and the Community’s Response. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 10(2), 74-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/19315864.2016.1278290

Introduction: Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are high users of emergency mental health services and can experience stigmatization in these circumstances. The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of people with ID living... Read More about “Why Are You Here? Can’t You Cope at Home?” The Psychiatric Crisis of People With Intellectual Disabilities and the Community’s Response.