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Quality of life: A comparative study of institutional and community-based care for adults with mental retardation
Abstract
Research examining the delivery of services to adults with mental retardation has typically sought to identify how one's environment influences behavior (Borthwick-Duffy, 1989). It is generally agreed that at any one time, quality of life is at least partly defined by the characteristics of an individual's residential and/or work setting (Borthwick-Duffy, 1989; Willer & Intagliata, 1984). The field of mental retardation has generally accepted the position that individuals living and working in community-based settings are "better off" and enjoy an "improved quality of life" because they are experiencing more "normal" (i.e., less restrictive) environmental settings. The present cross-sectional study compared specific environmental, careprovider and client-referenced variables with the self-perceptions of 162 adults with mild to moderate mental retardation with respect to their quality of life. The main question addressed was whether adults with mental retardation receiving care in the institution or community experience quality of life differently. In addition, age-related hypotheses were examined in regard to quality of life, social supports, avocational activities, and health/functional status. Bi-variate correlations, factoral analyses of variance, and a hierarchical regression analysis were performed on the data. The two major findings from this study were: (1) subjects with mental retardation living in the community were more likely than subjects in the institution to report higher levels of life quality; and (2) relationships with family, perceptions of social support, and specific careprovider perceptions of client characteristics explained a substantial proportion of the variance in the quality of life of adults with mental retardation. Overall, the results from this study support the premise that there are meaningful differences in the quality of life experienced by adults with mental retardation living in the community or in the institution. Higher levels of perceived life quality were reported by adult persons with mental retardation living in community-based settings. Implications are discussed in light of the increased human service interest in enhancing life quality across the lifespan of adults with mental retardation.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Social psychology|Mental health
Recommended Citation
Faulkner, Earl Henry, "Quality of life: A comparative study of institutional and community-based care for adults with mental retardation" (1995). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9604411.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9604411