A Home of Their Own

Not all people with a learning disability or long-term psychiatric problems live in an institution hidden away deep in the woods. Increasingly, they live in an ordinary house in an ordinary neighbourhood and lead an independent existence. The idea is that this should make it easier for them to participate in normal life and to be included in society.
The question, however, is whether this objective is being achieved and whether people with disabilities or problems do indeed come to form part of society and integrate within it. If that is not the case, the next question is what obstacles they encounter and what can be done about them. At least as important is the answer to the question of how the people concerned view their own life situation: what do they themselves want, do they succeed in achieving this and how do they perceive their own quality of life?
This report describes a survey of people with learning disabilities or psychiatric problems living independently in the southwest of the Netherlands. The survey used open questions to enable the respondents to talk about things such as their housing situation, their work, their leisure time use and their social contacts. It emerged from these interviews that they participate less actively in society in many respects than the average Dutch citizen. Most of them do not have a mainstream job, have a low income and have virtually no contact with their neighbours. Society does not exactly seem to invite them to take part as equals, and many of the respondents also stated that they would rather associate with others with similar problems to their own.
It also emerged from the interviews that living independently, having one's own place, is an essential component of quality of life. For most respondents, this aspect more than outweighs their sometimes negative experiences with 'socialisation'.