An Inquiry by Social Workers into Evening Routines in Community Living Settings for Adults with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Significant progress has been made since the 1980s in supporting adults with learning disability to live independent lives in the community. In 2012, the Department of Health in England announced the latest policy initiative to further invest in community support for people with learning disabilities, Transforming Care. Building the right community supported living setting for people does not in isolation provide for a comprehensive strategy towards achieving a paradigm shift in how people with learning disabilities experience their full right to inclusion in their communities. We undertook a practice inquiry into the quality of life experienced by people with learning disabilities. Social workers chose the focus of the inquiry to be on people's evening routines to answer the questionwere people living in the community experiencing independence or did institutional routines define their lives. The findings were that 69% of people with a learning disability were either in bed or were ready for bed. There was evidence that institutionalised routines existed in the settings with an association between an early evening meal time and the person being ready for or in bed (p=0.0001 at Time 1 and p=0.051 at Time 2). Implications for social work practice are discussed. Care Quality Commission (2015b). Guidance for providers on meeting the fundamental standards and on CQC's enforcement power. [Online].

Accommodating adults with intellectual disabilities and high support needs in Individual Supported Living arrangements

“…The scope of use of the term 'supported living' in some cases was quite broad and non-specific, and was referred to in opposition to institutionalised living. In some cases supported living referred to people living in settings after deinstitutionalisation, but otherwise remaining in relatively congregated settings, such as community-based group homes (James, Harvey et al 2018). Other papers described different models of community-based living.…”

“…These experiences contributed to diminished outcomes for people living in a setting and context where choice and autonomy were not facilitated. James, Harvey et al (2018) found that people with intellectual disabilities living in larger supported accommodation models-which were less aligned with a truly independent model, although still included in that paper-were experiencing regimented routines that were focussed on mealtimes and bedtimes, for the convenience of staff. This substantially limited their autonomy, choice and control.…”