Mindful Staff Can Reduce the Use of Physical Restraints When Providing Care to Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

Background: The use of physical restraints has generated immense controversy in the delivery of services to individuals with intellectual disabilities. The current zeitgeist is that effective positive approaches obviate the need for using physical restraints. In a multiple baseline design, we sought to assess how training staff members in mindfulness affected their use of physical restraints for aggressive and destructive behaviours of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Methods: Twenty‐three members of staff working in four group homes participated in a 12‐week mindfulness‐training programme. Objective data were collected on the number of incidents, staff observations of incidents, staff verbal redirections, restraints used, Stat medications administered, staff injuries and peer injuries. Data were collected during baseline, mindfulness training and mindfulness practice phases.

Results: As mindfulness training progressed, the use of restraints decreased, with almost no use being recorded by the end of the study. Any use of physical restraints was correlated with new admissions and on‐call staff who had not received training in mindfulness. Stat medications administered also decreased and staff and peer injuries were close to zero levels during the latter stages of mindfulness practice.

Conclusions: Data from this initial study suggest that staff training in mindfulness is potentially beneficial to both staff and the individuals with intellectual disabilities, particularly in reducing the use of physical restraints and Stat medication for aggressive and destructive behaviours.