The present thesis explores Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which recognizes the right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community, with choices equal to others. The relationship between Article 19 and the other articles of the Convention are explored, in order to discuss the role of Article 19 in the Convention. The thesis examines whether the right to live in the community, set out in Article 19, can be considered as the most central right of the Convention. The thesis applies the legal analytical method, and it is based on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the communications of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; official reports of the United Nations as well as international non-governmental organizations; and scientific articles from books and journals. By using Arendt’s idea of “the right to have rights” as a theory, this thesis argues that the right to live in the community, contained in Article 19, constitutes the right to have rights for persons with disabilities and therefore it can be considered as the most central right of the Convention.

Background: Malnutrition is a major problem in Bangladesh. One third of the population in Bangladesh is malnourished, but figures for older persons specifically are scant. Aims: This thesis describes the nutritional status of individuals aged 60+ years, living in a rural community in Bangladesh, with particular focus on the impact of demographic, health and social factors on nutritional status. A main aim is to examine the magnitude of malnutrition in this population. Second, the thesis focuses on the impact of demographic, health and social factors on nutritional status. Third, this thesis also aims to investigate the influence of nutritional status on functional abilities. Methods: A cross-sectional study of people aged 60+ years was conducted in Matlab, a rural area in Bangladesh during 2003-2004. Data were obtained through home interviews, clinical examination and cognitive tests. Nutritional status was assessed using a modified form of the Mini Nutritional Assessment. Physical function was measured by self-reported and performance-based instruments. Cognitive function was assessed using general and specific cognitive tasks. A total of 850 individuals were randomly selected for the purpose of the study, of which 625 participated in the home interviews and 473 underwent clinical examinations and cognitive tests. Information on complete nutritional status was available for 457 individuals. Results: About 26% of older people living in a rural community in Bangladesh were malnourished and 62% were at risk of malnutrition (Studies I-IV). Self-reported health problems (Study I), physician’s diagnoses (Study II), food expenditure (Study I), literacy (Studies I, II), personal income (Study II), female gender (Studies I, II) and financial support (Study II) were significantly associated with nutritional status. Health indicators accounted for the largest variations in nutritional status compared to demographic and socio-economic indicators (Studies I, II). Nutritional status was directly associated with self-reported and performance-based physical functions (Study III), as well as general and specific cognitive functions (Study IV). Conclusion: In low income countries, nutritional status of older persons needs to be addressed both from a health and a socio-economic perspective. Good nutritional status is essential for older persons to be functionally active, both physically and cognitively.

Yes / Objectives To assess the long-term effect on health and well-being of the Lifestyle Matters programme. Design Qualitative study of a subset of intervention arm participants who participated in the Lifestyle Matters randomised controlled trial (RCT). Setting The intervention took place at community venues within two sites in the UK. Participants A purposeful sample of 13 participants aged between 66 and 88 years from the intervention arm of the RCT were interviewed at 24 months post randomisation. Interviews aimed to understand how participants had used their time in the preceding 2 years and whether the intervention had any impact on their lifestyle choices, participation in meaningful activities and well-being. Intervention Lifestyle Matters is a 4-month occupational therapy intervention, consisting of group and individual sessions, designed to enable community living older people to make positive lifestyle choices and participate in new or neglected activities through increasing self-efficacy. Results Interviews revealed that the majority of interviewed participants were reportedly active at 24 months, with daily routines and lifestyles not changing significantly over time. All participants raised some form of benefit from attending Lifestyle Matters, including an improved perspective on life, trying new hobbies and meeting new friends. A number of intervention participants spoke of adapting to their changing circumstances, but there were significant and lasting benefits for 2 of 13 intervention participants interviewed. Conclusion The majority of those who experienced the Lifestyle Matters intervention reported minor benefits and increases in self-efficacy, but they did not perceive that it significantly improved their health and well-being. The two participants who had experienced major benefits also reported having had life-changing events, suggesting that this intervention is most effective at the time when lifestyle has to be reconsidered if mental well-being is to be sustained. / Medical Research Council grant number (G1001406).

This thesis studies how architecture and planning influence community living through relationships between public spaces, housing, and circulation that focus on stimulating social activities for the betterment of service industry workers’ way of life. Our built environment can not only connect people to one another or to activities or to places, but it can also isolate people. For the service-based populace of Lake Louise, Alberta, isolation is a recurring factor in various aspects of their lives. The design attempts to establish connections between the people and the community, to eradicate the barriers that fragment the community without neglecting the necessity of refuge for the individual.

Cette étude exploratoire dresse un portrait des transitions de milieux de vie (MDV) dans des Centres de réadaptation en déficience intellectuelle et en troubles envahissants du développement (CRDITED) de la grande région de Montréal. Elle permet d’identifier 1) les pratiques de transition de MDV des intervenants pivots en CRDITED, 2) les critères de succès de la transition de MDV et les moyens de les évaluer selon les personnes présentant une déficience intellectuelle et les intervenants pivots et 3) l’écart entre les pratiques souhaitées et les pratiques actuelles à partir du point de vue des deux types de participants. Des personnes présentant une déficience intellectuelle (N = 9) et des intervenants pivots (N = 19) se sont exprimés sur leurs expériences de transition de MDV en participant à des entretiens de groupe. Une analyse qualitative de contenu a permis d’identifier une typologie des expériences de transition de MDV du point de vue des intervenants pivots. Un seul type de transition de MDV parmi les cinq identifiés, le type préparée, offre des conditions favorisant la réalisation de la transition dans des conditions satisfaisantes pour les intervenants pivots. Les autres types de transitions (types dernière minute, explosive, clé en main et salle d’attente) offrent peu d’occasions pour la personne présentant une déficience intellectuelle de s’impliquer dans le processus de transition. Les propos des intervenants pivots permettent d’identifier les caractéristiques d’une transition de MDV qu’ils jugent idéale (type comme si c’était moi). Les types de transitions sont comparés entre eux sur deux axes, soit sur l’axe représentant un continuum d’implication de la personne présentant une déficience intellectuelle dans sa propre transition et sur l’axe identifiant les grandes étapes de réalisation de la transition. Les résultats permettent de déceler un écart important entre les transitions actuellement effectuées et les politiques, intentions et engagements de l’offre de service auprès de cette clientèle, notamment au regard de l’implication de la personne présentant une déficience intellectuelle dans les décisions relatives à sa transition de MDV. L’étude permet aussi d’identifier trois dimensions importantes de l’évaluation du succès de la transition selon les perspectives des personnes présentant une déficience intellectuelle et des intervenants pivots. Les dimensions identifiées sont : bien-être psychologique et comportement, santé physique et collaboration. Les propos des intervenants pivots permettent de constater qu’il existe parfois un paradoxe entre leurs perceptions du succès de la transition de MDV et celles des personnes présentant une déficience intellectuelle. L’interprétation des résultats a permis d’élaborer des recommandations afin de favoriser de meilleures pratiques de transition. / This exploratory study provides a portrait of community living transitions in rehabilitation centers for intellectual disabilities and pervasive developmental disorders (CRDITED) in the greater Montreal region. It identifies: 1) the practices of community living transitions in CRDITED, 2) the success criteria of the community living transitions and ways to evaluate them according to people with intellectual disabilities and educators, and 3) the difference between the desired practices and current practices from the viewpoint of both respondents. People with intellectual disabilities (N = 9) and educators (N = 19) spoke about their experiences of community living transitions in group interviews. Qualitative content analysis has identified a typology of community living transitions from the educators’ point of view. One out the five types of transitions offers favorable conditions for a transition under satisfactory criteria for educators (prepared). Other types of transitions (last minute, explosive, turnkey, waiting room) offer little opportunity for the person with intellectual disabilities to get involved in the transition process. Educators identify characteristics of an ideal community living transition (as if it was me). All types of transitions are compared with each other based on transition steps and on the involvement level of the person with intellectual disabilities. A difference between the currently performed transitions and policy intentions and commitments was identified, particularly with regard to the involvement of the person in decisions on its own community living transition. The study also identified three important transition success dimensions from the perspective of both respondents: psychological well-being and behavior, physical health, and collaboration. The results disclose that there is sometimes a paradox in community living transition success perceptions between educators and people with intellectual disabilities. Interpretation of the results helped develop recommendations to promote better community living transition practices.

Eine Ablösung vom Elternhaus gilt als anthropologisch begründete Entwicklungsaufgabe im Leben jedes Menschen. Dies unterliegt in Familien mit Angehörigen, die als schwer geistig behindert ge-lten, erschwerenden Bedingungen – vor und nach einem Auszug. In Rehabilitationswissenschaft und Forschung fand diese Problematik bisher wenig differenzierte Beachtung. Auf Grundlage einer Aufarbeitung der themenrelevanten wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema Bindung und Ablösung – mit Ableitungen für diese Familien – besteht die Zielsetzung dieser Arbeit in der Deskription und Analyse von gelungenen bzw. nicht gelungenen Ablöseprozessen, um den Erkenntnisstand zur Lebenswirklichkeit dieser Familien voranzubringen und die Praxis bei Problemlagen zu unterstützen. Erklärungsmodelle der Bindungstheorie erscheinen in diesem Zusammenhang besonders geeignet, die individuelle Bindungs- und Autonomieentwicklung mit deren Auswirkungen auf Ablösebereitschaft und Trennungsphänomene zu interpretieren. In der vorliegenden qualitativen Längsschnittuntersuchung wurden zwölf Familien über einen Zeitraum von zehn Jahren in ihrem Ablöseprozess begleitet. Detaillierte Einzelfallrekonstruktionen beleuchten die familienspezifischen Verarbeitungsformen im Umgang mit dem Auszugserleben. Vorrangig aus Sicht der Eltern werden die erschwerenden und begünstigenden Einflussfaktoren im interaktionalen Geschehen von Eltern, Bewohner/-innen und Mitarbeiter/-innen der aufnehmenden Wohneinrichtung herausgearbeitet. In der kontrastierenden Betrachtung werden die maßgeblichen Variablen von gelingenden Ablöseprozessen übergreifend dargestellt. Zudem wird die besondere Rolle von Problemverhalten exemplarisch erörtert. – Die zentralen Elemente der Ablösebereitschaft und -verarbeitung werden aus bindungstheoretischer Perspektive gebündelt und Folgerungen für die Praxis zur Begleitung und Unterstützung von Bewohner/-innen, Eltern und Mitarbeiter/-innen beim Übergang vom Elternhaus in eine gemeinwesenintegrierte Wohneinrichtung abgeleitet. / The detachment of the parental home is an anthropological developmental task in every individual’s life. However, this process is rarely a matter of course in families with members considered as se-verely intellectually disabled. Difficulties may arise before and after moving out into living facilities. The complex factors that are part of such detachment process have received differentiated attention neither in theory nor in research or practice. Based on a thorough examination of the scientific literature on the topics attachment and detach-ment this dissertation aims at a description and analysis of successful and unsuccessful processes of detachment. It shall thus advance the research on pedagogy for people with an intellectual disability and give practical support in various problematic situations. In this context the attachment theory seems to be especially appropriate to understand and support the development of attachment and autonomy and their impact on separation and detachment from parents. The qualitative longitudinal study on hand accompanied the detachment process within twelve families over a period of about ten years. Their specific competences and ways of coping with the detachment process are analysed and described in detail. The various factors of the interaction be-tween parents, their adult sons and daughters (the residents) and staff of the residential homes in question, that have a positive or negative influence on the detachment process, are predominantly presented from the parents’ perspective. The contrastive examination identifies decisive variables. Besides the role of challenging behaviour of residents during the detachment process is discussed. The findings and consequently parameters for the practical support of residents, parents and staff during the transition from the parental home to community living are summarized according to the attachment theory.

This master's thesis deals with a type of community living called cohousing. Describes typical attributes, residential differences and possibilities of ownership legal forms. In more detail deals with a formation of cohousing as a development project. Practical part of this thesis device the real cohousing and evaluates conditions of the sale according to the real estate market situation.

Due to declining employment in the last few years, employee motivation has become a very real issue in social services. The subject of the diploma's thesis is the analysis of the motivation of workers in social services (personal support workers) in three organizations providing community living for disabled people in the Karlovy Vary region. The theoretical portion of the thesis contains information about motivation, some theories of work motivation and selected theories of human resource management regarding work motivation, plus a section on social services about community living for disabled people and the role of the manager in social services. Within the empirical part of the thesis two goals are met through the methods of mixed research. One goal is to analyze the motivation of workers in social services, which resolved using a questionnaire survey. That research identified factors causing employee satisfaction and factors that motivate employees. The second goal of the thesis is met in form of structured interview to determine how managers in the researched organisations motivated employees. The result of both methods were analyzed and compared. Lastly, recommendations for increasing employee motivation were handed to the participating organizations in the research. The main result of the...

The diploma thesis topic is an impact analysis of how social services affects clients of community living for disabled people. The main goal of this thesis is to answer a question whether the social service leads to decrease of its range. The clients sample of 12 was selected from those who use the service longest. The data analysis of individual service records complemented with qualitative quality available data confirmed the assumed hypothesis. The initial hypothesis assumed that 80% of clients who use the community living for disabled people the longest lead to decreased the need of provided services. The secondary goal of this thesis is to suggest options how to improve the efficiency of provided services to the service providers. This has been accomplished by focus group survey This investigation has led to two proposals for increasing the efficiency of the services provided. Keywords: