A Q-methodology study among caregivers of people with moderate intellectual disabilities on their clients’ health care: An example in oral health

Background: People with intellectual disabilities have less favourable outcomes in—among others—oral health variables, compared to their peers without intellectual disabilities. Before being able to develop target interventions for caregivers, all their prevailing viewpoints regarding oral hygiene need to be identified. Methods: This Q-methodology study—conducted among 40 caregivers of care-dependent Institutionalized living persons with moderate intellectual disability—used by-person factor analysis to reveal clusters of caregivers based on the way their statements were sorted. Results: A 4-factor solution was chosen based on both the Q-sorting and the interviews. The four factors identified were responsible and perseverant, motivated but aware of obstacles, social minded and knowledgeable and concerned and insecure. Conclusion: Q-methodology can be used to determine the different attitudes that caregivers have regarding oral health care. Developing a tool to determine into which factor caregivers should be categorized may be the next step in tailoring oral health instruction.