Back to the future: developing competent residential services for people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour

The purpose of this paper is to provide a viewpoint on what needs to be done to develop competent residential services for people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour.

This article draws on previous accounts of the actions required. Whilst these have been available for decades and are still valid, they have not been fully implemented, hence the theme of “Back to the future”.

The need to continue developing small‐scale, community‐based services that have a clear value base and are committed to taking person‐centred action is highlighted. The paper focuses on the need to enhance service quality through the dissemination and implementation of Positive Behavioural Support and discusses some key issues regarding this with reference to recent work in Wales.

This paper makes a timely contribution to the current debate and highlights some practical actions and tools developed in Wales that may be of wider interest.