‘Catching what matters’: A values-based ACT intervention for people with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Sometimes, it can be really hard to put our problems into words – especially if we are thinking or talking about upsetting things.What did we do and why?We wanted to know if taking photos of things that are really important and talking about them with people helped people with learning disabilities to understand ‘values’ and maybe feel better.How did we do this?We gave six people a mobile phone (with a camera). Every three days we sent them text messages to ask:▪ How happy are you today?▪ How worried are you today?▪ How scared are you today?▪ Do you like your life today?Then we asked people to take photos of things that are really important to them in life, and talk about them with one of our ‘catching what matters’ therapists.What did we find out?Taking photos of things that are really important in life helped people to understand what ‘values’ means.Did people feel better?We asked people how they felt at the start and end of the research. We found that taking photos of important things helped some people feel:▪ Less worried.▪ Less scared.▪ More happy.▪ And that they liked their life more.So, what does this mean?▪ Taking photos of things that are important might help people with learning disabilities to understand what ‘values’ means.▪ Some people felt better, and some people didn’t.▪ It would be good to find out more about what helped people feel better.▪ More research might help us to find out more in the future.Could we improve this research in the future?Next time, we could maybe ask more people to take part so that we have more information.