Inside our Research on the DSP Workforce
DSPs are critical for the quality of life and community integration of people with disabilities; they should be recognized and paid accordingly.
Why is it important?
Direct support professionals (DSPs) provide individualized personal assistance to people with disabilities and older adults. They not only provide a wide range of services, but must often balance a complex set of competencies to do so. Despite having to master a complex set of skills, and juggle many different roles, DSPs typically have low wages and a lack of benefits, little training, and lack a career ladder. These reasons all contribute to the very high turnover rate for DSPs.
Our Research
Not only does DSP turnover impact DSPs themselves, it also significantly impacts the services organizations provide to people with disabilities. Our research examines the impact of DSP turnover on people with disabilities, such as its impact on injuries, abuse and neglect, emergency department utilization, and quality of life outcomes. We also examine best-practices in the training and treatment of DSPs, such as how training increases the quality of the supports DSPs provide.
DSPs as a Social Determinant of Health of People with IDD
Direct support professionals (DSPs) play a vital role in helping promote the health, safety, community integration, and quality of life of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). We believe the availability, stability, and quality of the DSP workforce should be considered a social determinant of health of people with IDD. In this study, we analyzed Personal Outcome Measures® data from 5,457 people with IDD to examine the impact the workforce can have on the health outcomes, health supports, and social determinants of health-related outcomes of people with IDD.
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