Using a phenomenological hermeneutic methodology, this thesis describes the lived experience of people with mobility impairments in the context of their home environment. Nine individuals with mobility impairments were interviewed at length regarding their experiences in their homes. From the resulting narratives, the data were arranged under three thematic statements: Doing my thing, Being myself, and Evolving with my environment. The study highlights the interdependent nature of the person-environment-occupation relationship and reveals the potential for an enabling home design to affect all areas of human occupation (self-care, productivity and leisure). The efficient performance of self-care activities in the home emerged as being somewhat predictive of the extent to which participants were involved in the areas of productivity and leisure. This thesis offers support for the social model of disability and illuminates the need for incorporating universal design in all homes. / x, 98 leaves ; 29 cm. --

This thesis deals with consequential care after release from institutional care and relations between absence of binding person and incorporation of a young adult terminating his or her institutional care into society. The thesis focuses on institutional care, stressing its termination, it suggests changes for improvement and offers an example of good practices from Germany. Also, the thesis identifies the most serious issues of children after institutional care and describes, in detail, consequences of lack of emotional support. Utilizing case studies, the experimental part looks into whether children living in children's home can find a binding person and how presence or absence of such a person can affect their future life.

Social service Support for independent living provides life for people with disabilities in the common environment. The theoretical part describes the most important topics concerning integration people with disabilities into society. One of the tools of social integration is just the Social service support for independent living. The aim of this work is to map the social service Support for independent living and focus on the scope, focus, form and methods for implementation service. Furthermore, to implement research on a sample of adults with disabilities, users of the Social service support for independent living. I used the tool of social worker "3P - Profile of the necessary support." The practical part was processed through qualitative research. I used the following methods and techniques of data collection: questionnaire survey, on-standardized telephone interviews, secondary data analysis. Research has found that the social service Support for independent living in the Czech Republic is unevenly distributed. This service is unavailable in some regions for certain target groups. This service is suitable for people with disabilities with lower support. This conclusion was achieved by applying an instrument for social worker "3P - Profile of necessary support". Social service support for independent living helps these people to integrate into society and therefore its availability should increase.

This diploma thesis deals with nutrition as the primary prevention for seniors and the influence of way of housing on their eating behavior. With regard to ways of living, they are seniors living in their own household together with a partner, and seniors who live on their own. The aims that are set for this thesis are: mapping eating habits in observed seniros; finding how aware seniors are of nutrition including nutrition recommendations and finding what influence living with a partner or independent living has on eating behavior in observed seniors. To reach the aims a qualitative research method was used. Data colletion was done via semistructured interviews with healthy seniors living in the town of Kaplice. The obtained data was subsequently coded and categorized. I consider the finding of insufficient consumption of fruit, vegetables, milk including dairy products, and an unnecessary intake of candies and sweetened beverages in seniors to be a significant finding. Seniors usually get correct information about nutrition including nutrition recommendations, however, there are certain shortcomings in information about the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetable consumption or foods containing Vitamin D. In connection to the housing issues, a significant influence of independent living on seniors´ tendency to ignore themselves. With regard to the observed shortcomings in both nutrition as well as respondents´ awareness I would recommend an increase in senior education. An information leaflet, which I created and which is also a part of the appendix of this thesis, may serve as a tool.

The aging of the world population has increased dramatically during the past century. The rapid increase of elderly population is putting a heavy strain on healthcare and social welfare. Living conditions and service provision for elderly people have thus become an increasingly hot topic worldwide. In this paper, we address this problem by presenting a conceptual model of an integrated and personalized system for an eco-smart home for elderly independent living. This approach was inspired by an on-going European project, INNOVAGE, which researchers at Blekinge Institute of Technology are currently participating in, and which focuses on regional knowledge clusters for promoting eco-smart homes for elderly independent living. Contrasting the social situation of elderly in China and Europe, we have chosen to focus on a solution for a Swedish context, which takes technical, environmental, social and human-computer interaction aspects into consideration in the design of eco-smart homes for elderly people in Sweden. Three studies have been carried out in order to clarify and explore the main issues at stake. A literature review gave an overview of on-going research and the current state-of-the-art concerning smart homes. The literature review, along with an interview of an expert on solar energy, also gave insights into additional design challenges which are introduced when focusing specifically on eco-smart building solutions. In order to explore and gain a better understanding of the perceived needs and requests of the target group, i.e. the elderly population, we carried out interviews with three experts in healthcare and homecare for the elderly, and also carried out interviews among the elderly in Karlskrona and interviews and a web survey among the elderly in China. As a way of addressing the design challenges of integrating a multitude of diverse, complicated technical systems in a home environment while at the same time high-lighting the need for comprehensive personalized service provision for elderly people, we designed a conceptual model – an exemplar – of an eco-smart home for elderly independent living. The eco-smart home exemplar aims to inspire interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder discussions around innovative design and development of environmentally friendly, comfortable, safe and supportive living for the elderly in the future. Finally, we did an evaluation of the model in two workshops with elderly people in two different towns in Blekinge. / +460720226027

The diploma thesis focuses on the topic of leaving alternative care and it is divided into two parts. In the first theoretical part I describe the system of alternative care in the Czech Republic, its division and definition. I also deal with the termination of care, preparation for independence and the last are forms of assistance and aftercare services. In the practical part, the subject of my interest will be the readiness of young people after the end of alternative care. Through a semi-structured interview, I will find out how they are doing in various areas that are important for independence. In the final part, I summarize the results of the research, which will be provided with commentary. Keywords Substitute care, family, foster care, institutional education, preparation for independent living, after-care services

This diploma thesis was devoted to the topic: Support of independent living as a form of field social work. I focused on the typology of disability, Company DUHA, z.ú. and types of benefits for people with disabilities. I dealt with the differences between independent housing support and sheltered housing and social services for people with disabilities. The main aim of my diploma thesis was to find out, if the clients are satisfied with the service of independent housing support and what are the most benefial aspects of this service. Another goal was to find out how satisfied are the family members of clients using the independent housing support service with this social service. To find out he major goal of the thesis I used the technique of structured interview, which included 8 questions. The thesis is divided into 7 chapters. I consider chapter seven to be the most important, in where I present the results of the survey. It is evident that clients who use the Company DUHA, z.ú and their family members are satisfied with the service.

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Background Individuals with intellectual disabilities need continued supports in completing daily living tasks to increase the likelihood of achieving independence. Fortunately, research has shown that assistive technology, and particularly video prompting helps support independent living for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Aims This study investigated the efficacy of a highly customizable task analysis smartphone application in assisting three young adults with intellectual disabilities learn how to cook three different multistep recipes. Materials & Methods Three young adults with intellectual disabilities enrolled in a four-year postsecondary education program (PSE) participated in a multiple probe design across participants to examine the effect of a Task Analysis app on the participants' completion of three cooking tasks. Results In this present study, the use of video prompting to teach a daily living skill resulted in large and meaningful effect size gains of 99%–100% for all three participants, as measured by Tau-U. Discussion Video prompting is an effective instructional strategy which allows the user to self-prompt and manage their ability to successfully complete daily living skills. In this current study, video prompting made a substantial difference in the safety of participants. Conclusion The use of video prompting can decrease the reliance on others (e.g., teachers and caregivers), improve self-confidence of the user, and improve the user's level of autonomy.

Using an emergent design, this study developed a program approach for young people in the child headed households of Zambia. Phase I dealt with prior ethnography, Phase II focused on independent living services, and Phase III concerned translation to Zambia. A total of 36 participants from Richmond, consisting of 20 Richmond Department of Social Services workers and youth and 16 Africans, were recruited. Three major themes emerged: feasibility, content, and quality. Lessons learned about translational research highlight the need for uniformity in a cultural screen’s composition. This might enhance the richness of perspectives on young people. Lessons for the Department of Social Services include a need to focus on tracking young people exiting services. This might involve exit interviews with young people and guidance with life decisions. There were lessons about decisions regarding local and expert knowledge in the translation process. This often becomes difficult when there are no assurances of participant uniformity. Paying attention to issues of local and expert knowledge would eliminate decision barriers that might arise during the translational process. Implications for social work education suggest that an emphasis on cultural competency might help students at the BSW and MSW levels to become better managers of adolescents. Implications for practice and policy include enhancing access to education and health for all young people. This process might be facilitated by the enactment of polices that highlight education and health for all young people at national and state levels. The following are crucial considerations for practice with young people: recruiting and training appropriate staff, promoting civic education, collaborating with young people, strengthening community involvement, strengthening agency collaboration, and developing targeted services. Implications for further research include: exploring what areas to consider when making a paradigm jump, considering cultural principles as bridges for making that jump, examining the implications for translational research as opposed to diffusion of innovation, determining what types of research samples would eliminate some of the gender issues that emerge with focus groups, recruiting more young people as participants, and conducting a study that focuses on lived experiences of young people.