The proposed programme of research will investigate the quality of care for people with disabilities in regard to developments in social policy and typical examples of service practice, but will focus also on the subjective experience of individuals with disabilities within these frameworks. The consortium will establish the range of options available for the care and support of people with physical and intellectual disabilities across the lifespan, within the context of European and other partner countries. The project will investigate the extent to which these typical care and support options promote integrated living, social inclusion and service user participation; the role of attitudes to disability and persons with disabilities in relation to the delivery of care and service user's experience of social justice; and the impact of different service models and care practices on the quality of life of individuals with disabilities. Three cross cultural measures will be developed within the project and subsequently tested within both European and non-European participating centres: an index of the 'fit' between disability linked needs and available accommodation and care packages (the Accommodation and Care Fit Index - ACFI); a measure of attitudes to disability and to persons with disability (the Attitudes to Disabilities Scale) with three related versions for direct use with individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities (ADS-D),indirect use with proxy carers (ADS-P), and direct use with members of the general population (ADS-G); and a measure of the quality of life of disabled persons based on the existing World Health Organisation's quality of life measure, the WHOQOL, but adapted and extended for use with disabled persons and their carers (WHOQOL-DIS). The project outcomes will inform social policy and practice in relation to intellectual and physical disability in the European Union, and more globally.
Keywords:
Subjective experience of disability; attitudes to disability; accomodation and care fit; user choice
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