Kilcornan evaluationAn evaluation of the care of severely intellectually disabled adults at the Kilcornan Centre in Clarinbridge, Co Galway, has led to a recommendation that the centre be closed and that those in its care be moved into the community.
A report has concluded that the basic needs of the residents were not being met, and concerns were expressed for the safety of those on the "Challenging Behaviour Programme", which was being evaluated. The case for the closure of the centre was "overwhelming", it said.
It was reported to the evaluation team "that most residents live in daily fear of attacks from fellow service users [others in care\]. Residents have been the target of severe, persistent assault by fellow residents, and these have been sustained over months and years.
There are 34 men and women with severe intellectual disabilities at the centre. They live in six bungalows there, and are looked after by more than 65 staff. In total there are 77 residents at Kilcornan, which opened 50 years ago.
The evaluation also found that the quality of life of those being cared for was "very poor" compared with other people of severe intellectual disability; that standard practices of residential service provision were not in place, and that neither standard therapeutic processes nor standard behaviour support process had been implemented.
It further found that families of residents "do not receive information required to protect their family members" and, in general, that there was "a marked absence of accountability" at management level.
It recommended that the service users at Kilcornan "must all move to live in the community". However, it was estimated that of the staff concerned, all of whom were interviewed by the evaluation team, only "approximately one third had a conviction that the residents ... would be better served if they lived in the community". It was further estimated that another third could see advantages to such a move.
The evaluation, which was completed earlier this year and a copy of which has been seen by of The Irish Times, was requested by Mr Patrick McGinley, director of the Brothers of Charity, Galway.
The service at Kilcornan is provided under the trusteeship of the east Galway sector of the Brothers of Charity.
The evaluation team was led by Mr Brian McClean, a specialist in challenging behaviour, from the Roscommon Behaviour Support Service.
Its other members included Mr Dermot Courtney, clinical nurse specialist with the North Eastern Health Board; Ms Margaret McCracken, behaviour therapist with the Roscommon Behaviour Support Group; Mr Ian Grey, a senior clinical psychologist at Stewart's Hospital, Dublin, and a lecturer in intellectual disability at Trinity College, Dublin; as well as Ms Mary Beirne, Ms Sarah Regan, and Ms Aoife Hegarty, all of whom are members of the Self-Advocacy Council, Roscommon.
Introducing their report, the team record that "we will never forget the loss of opportunity, the lack of active support, the loss of freedom, the restrictions, the fear of assaults by other residents, the denial of rights, and the impoverishment of quality of life that everyday living in Kilcornan means".
Explaining that they were "struck by (the) individual quality of the 34 men and women we met", they also felt "privileged to meet a group of people with diverse personalities and dispositions" and "would like to honour that diversity".
They found each of the 34 "had enormous capacity for participation", and were struck "by the diverse preferences of the men and women we met, and by their ability to communicate their choices and express opinions, often through behavioural means".
They were also "impressed with the occasions in which we witnessed staff and service users maintaining affirming relationships that were clearly deeper than those typically found in care-giving services".
