Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of professionals supporting families where a parent had an intellectual disability (ID). Method: The professionals were identifi ed by purposive sampling. Seven focus groups were formed, including 29 professionals working for different welfare administrations on the county and municipality levels in the south of Sweden. The duration of the interviews varied between 45 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The analyses are ongoing and the preliminary results are as follows: the professionals supported the families on the basis of strategies each administrative unit had developed; a need for more frequent cooperation between the units was highlighted; facilitating factors for successful support were parental ability and willingness to follow advice and support measures; aggravating factors were lack of cooperation and lack of adequate strategies among the various kinds of professionals involved, and parental fear that the social authorities would not let them keep the child. Conclusion: A tentative conclusion is that collaboration around these families is necessary and should include professionals from different areas in order to achieve adequate support.

En preliminär slutsats av den pågående analysen är att det är nödvändigt med samarbete kring dessa familjer. Nyckelord: Funktionsnedsättning, familj, stödstruktur, samverkan.