Inclusion sits at the heart of policy relating to the support of people with learning disabilities. This Norwegian study set out to look at some practical implications of this in relation to providing support to older people with learning disabilities, in particular the views and attitudes of people using ‘senior centres’ in Norway to the inclusion of older people with learning disabilities in these centres.

The authors ran four focus groups which included thirty seniors without learning disabilities to identify the major themes, using grounded theory.

They found the major themes identified from the analysis of the focus group transcriptions included benefits, perceptions of people with learning disabilities, barriers and solutions to inclusion and the need for support and information.

The authors conclude from the study that most of the participants agreed that older people with learning disabilities could benefit from using a senior centre, but that additional consideration needed to be given to their need for assistance, education for staff and ways to overcome negative community attitudes towards people with learning disability.

‘If We are Going to Include Them We have to do it Before We Die’: Norwegian Seniors’ Views of Including Seniors with Intellectual Disability in Senior Centres, Ingvaldsen, A. & Balandin, S.  In Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 24: 583–593