A thematic analysis into the experiences of people with a mild intellectual disability during the COVID-19 lockdown period

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a substantial impact on people with an intellectual disability. The goal of the current study was to explore the experiences and needs of people with a mild intellectual disability during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the Netherlands.

Method: A descriptive qualitative methodology was conducted, using semi-structured individual interviews with six people with a mild intellectual disability. Data were analysed thematically.

Results: Three overarching themes were found: (i) Missing social contact and having people close; (ii) Being housebound has changed my daily life; and (iii) Hard to understand the preventive measures.

Conclusions: Important insights into the experiences and needs of people with a mild intellectual disability during the COVID-19 lockdown period were gained. These insights are valuable with respect to a potential second COVID-19 wave or a future infection-outbreak.

Rights

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

Cite as

Downloadable citations

Identifiers

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2020.1827214

Repository URI

http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/242695/