When parents relinquish care: informal support networks of older people with intellectual disability

Adults with intellectual disability lack the two key providers of informal support in later life, children and a spouse. This qualitative study examined the informal support networks of 62 older people with intellectual disability who had left parental care after mid-life. Informal networks were found to be small, dense, and dominated by family members. A striking feature was the existence of a 'key person' who combined frequent contact, strong commitment and performance of a range of instrumental tasks. Key people were predominantly siblings but also inluded more distant relatives and friends. These findings indicate that, for this subgroup of older people, normative family roles such as 'protector' and 'facilitator' were fulfilled by informal network members despite the absence of spuses or children.