Inclusions East wants survey feedback to adapt programs to needs in Kings County PEI

By David MacDonald david@peicanada.com. Eastern Graphic

Inclusions East, the organization overseeing the Kingswood Centre and the Southern Kings Group Home in Montague, is awaiting responses from a housing needs survey that could be the first step in getting additional support for those with intellectual disabilities living in eastern PEI.

Editor – what the article doesn’t say is if the survey will widen the scope of the program to people with intellectual disabilities beyond existing clients. Secondarily, how much assistance is being given to the people being surveyed? Sending complex questionnaires to people with intellectual disabilities often results in low response rates or inaccurate responses for obvious reasons. They may not understand the questions or may be intimidated by the process. We attempted to ask these questions but gave up after holding on the line for more than 30 minutes.

The survey was developed by Inclusions East, with the Disability Support Program distributing it to 110 of its clients. Some of the questions asked to caregivers is when they anticipate the family member they’re taking care of may need additional support, and what type of support they would like to see.

Nancy MacCormack of Inclusions East said every situation is different and the individuals who’ve responded to the survey so far are looking for different options.

“Some are looking for independent living options such as an independent living complex. Others are looking for supports for those remaining in their own home to ease the stress for the caregiver. And some are looking for supervised apartments.”

Services currently offered include day programs at the Kingswood Centre, two group home locations in Montague and in a Souris group home.

Ms MacCormack said she knows of many families who are in need of different types of support beyond what is available. She said a program where several clients could live together and learn skills to allow them to move into their own apartment, for example, would be an asset to the area.

Ms MacCormack said there are several housing initiatives co-funded by the provincial and federal governments which Inclusions East could access in the future.
Inclusions East is the new name for the organization which operates the facilities in Montague, as it now provides services throughout Kings County, with the change taking place last July.

One of the changes made as a result of the reorganization of Inclusions East is to the employment opportunities program. The program helps clients find employment and originally operated out of the Kingswood Centre, but now includes clients from all of Kings County. So far a total of 25 clients from eastern PEI take part in the program.