Emotional intelligence of support staff

Challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities can lead to negative outcomes and stress in support staff, which may compromise the interpersonal relationships between support staff and service users. Within this PhD research, an intervention for support staff working with people with intellectual disabilities who display challenging behaviour was developed, in the form of a training programme. This training programme was created to make support staff aware of their own emotional intelligence and how this influences their own behaviour and interactions with their service users. Support staff received feedback on ways to improve the support they provide and their relationships with clients. The research showed that support staff who had completed the training programme managed stress more effectively and were better able to meet their clients’ needs.