no / Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present results from an evaluation of the experience of a move to independent living for people with mental health needs or a learning disability. The discussion focuses on the shift in organisational culture from providing care within a hostel setting to supporting people in their own tenancies. Design/methodology/approach – The evaluation was underpinned by a participatory action research design. A total of ten co‐researchers with experience of using services or as carers were recruited. Qualitative data was obtained from “before” and “after” interviews with residents, staff and relatives. Findings – Widespread satisfaction was expressed with people's new homes. Many residents were found to be increasingly independent. There was some evidence of concerns regarding the pace and process of change and the introduction of new practices to promote independence. Research limitations/implications – The timing of the evaluation limited the opportunity for comprehensive “before” and “after” data collection. The involvement of co‐researchers required considerable time and support although the experience of those involved was positive. Practical implications – Learning from this evaluation emphasises the importance of support and preparation for staff as well as residents, in moving from hostel to independent living. Social implications – This study highlights the advantages of a participatory design in evaluating a major change in service delivery. Originality/value – This paper raises important issues about organisational change. It contributes to wider debates regarding the implementation of personalisation and recovery‐focused agendas. / © 2013 Emerald. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

Yes / This paper explores issues of partnership and participation in research and evaluation, drawing on the experiences of evaluating a move from hostel accommodation to independent supported living for people with mental health difficulties or learning disabilities. The service change project involved a partnership between a local authority and a housing association with over 300 people moving into their own tenancies in newly-built flats and bungalows. The accompanying evaluation was designed on a model of service user participation and action research and was specifically concerned to explore the impact of the changes on people’s actual or perceived social inclusion into local communities. Ten service user and carer researchers, some of whom were directly involved in the move from hostel to independent living, were recruited and worked with ‘professional’ researchers to examine both the process and the outcomes of the move. The work will be viewed through the insights offered by feminist, transformative and participatory approaches to research. The ‘positioning’ of the researcher in relation to boundaries and the construction of the ‘other’ will be considered, emphasising an approach grounded in reflexivity and an acknowledgement of the complex ethical issues involved. A key feature of this study has been the negotiation involved between a complex change project and a participatory evaluation design. Learning points from the work so far will also be considered in terms of their wider application in future evaluations of complex change projects that involve multiple stakeholders.

The purpose of this systematic review of using digital activity schedules as an intervention in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities is to determine to what extent the current research shows it to be an effective intervention. For articles to be included in this review, they had to use a digitally presented activity schedule, the activity schedule could not be a task analysis of a single activity or a group visual schedule, and the intervention must have been carried out with individuals with autism or intellectual disabilities. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria totaled 17 studies with a total of 58 participants included. The studies focused on the effects of using digital activity schedules to teach leisure skills, independent living skills, and academic skills across various age groups. Settings of the intervention, ages of participants, varying participant characteristics, and What Works Clearinghouse quality indicator standards in each study are examined. Results show that interventions were heavily concentrated in early childhood age groups, teaching leisure activities, and were often combined with other concurrent interventions. Future research should focus on more interventions implemented with individuals in secondary education, independent living skills, and rigorous methodological standards as defined by the What Works Clearinghouse quality indicators.

Due to their disproportionate risk of tenancy non-sustainment there have been concerns raised for young people making a pathway out of homelessness into independent living. Despite these concerns, there has been limited research looking at how young people experience tenancy sustainment or where they move onto after terminating a tenancy. This thesis, drawing on Bourdieu’s (1990a) theory of practice, presents a reconceptualisation of tenancy sustainment as a practice of sustaining a tenancy. The theoretical-empirical analysis is based on data collected through longitudinal research involving two waves of semi- structured interviews with 25 young people, aged 16-25, who had recently made a pathway out of homelessness into their own independent tenancies. The interdependency between a tenant and their tenancy presented young people with pressures which they developed techniques of independent living in response to in order to sustain their tenancy and make it a home. Young people not only had a particular housing position of being a tenant, they held family and education-employment positions which took part in the formation and shaping of the pressures they experienced living independently. Tenancies were not seen as an end in themselves by young people who desired, through the experience of sustaining a tenancy, increasingly independent positions within their other social positions as well. An uneven process of actually existing neoliberalism across policy areas through its influence on young people’s constellation of interdependent relations also created a dissonance within the positions held by young people fostering social suffering. Young people ending a tenancy viewed this as a ‘step backwards’ when it meant decreasing independence such as a return to supported accommodation; ambivalence where it arose from the end of a relationship; and as a move forwards, or ‘getting on with life’, when making a youth transition and housing pathway towards establishing their own family household.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The project is concerned with the effectiveness of the Independent Living Program (ILP) in assessing the effectiveness of preparing youth for emancipation from the foster care system. Specifically, the project focused on ILP participants' preparedness to live independently as determined by: education, housing, employment/career, and money management skills attained.

No description available.

This dissertation concerns the family context of self-determination in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) during life transitions. Although self-determination is interpreted in different ways in different disciplines, the construct is frequently used to describe the attitudes and behaviours that allow people to feel autonomous and causal in their lives. Research on self-determination in adolescents and adults with ID has commonly occurred in community and special education sectors, with an emphasis on arranging supports for people with ID to develop component self-determination skills, like choice making, problem solving, and goal setting. From the perspective of organismic-dialectical theories, people develop and express self-determination through relationships and person-environment interactions at multiple system levels. Further research on the way family interactions and supports influence the self-determination of adults with ID is important. To address this need, this dissertation includes a qualitative study presented in two manuscripts and a quantitative study presented in one manuscript. The qualitative study explored processes and challenges in the family system during significant life transitions with an adult family member with ID. Families participated in semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations of daily activities every three to four months for one year. Manuscript 1 concerns the influence of family processes on the self-determination of two young adults with ID as they attained adult roles in the community. Parents were observed to model goal setting, encourage choice making, and scaffold new skills, which helped the young adults with ID to experience autonomous motivation in their transitions. Parents reported feeling unsure of the best way to promote their adult child’s independence while ensuring his or her safety. They tried to resolve this dilemma with open and honest communication. Most interestingly, families collaborated in choice making to the extent that every family member perceived autonomy in transition planning and implementation. Manuscript 2 concerns the influence of transition processes and challenges on the quality of life and resilience of four families with an adult family member with ID. Although families reported different transition types, they progressed through similar transition stages. They invested in quality of life and self-determination as a foundation, considered future support needs, pre-planned and actively planned transitions, implemented transitions, adjusted to new roles and routines, and reflected upon their growth. Although all families experienced challenges during their transitions, two families entered a state of crisis when they did not receive mental health and residential supports. Findings highlight that transitions are lifelong processes in the family system, and risk and protective factors at multiple system levels affect resilience and self-determination. The quantitative study, presented in Manuscript 3, considers that the family system functions within broader socioecological environments that include formal services for adults with ID. Community participation supports provide opportunities to develop self-determination in recreational, educational, and vocational activities. In a cohort of families requesting community participation supports, the vast majority of parents endorsed the expectation that this service would improve choice-making outcomes for their adult child with ID. Preliminary results suggest that the gender and prior choice-making experience of the adult with ID may be associated with the odds of parents endorsing this expectation. The General Discussion integrates the primary findings from each manuscript within a conceptual framework informed by self-determination theory, family systems theory, and family resilience models. This dissertation has theoretical implications for the way the self-determination construct is understood and applied in research with families with a family member with ID. Further, this dissertation reveals practical implications for supporting families with a family member with ID during important life transitions.

This study used a multiple probe across settings design to evaluate the effects of video activity schedules (VidAS) on the acquisition of life skills in various settings within the home. In a technology training phase, participants were taught how to navigate a mobile application and use the pause and play feature of the video using a system of least prompts. In baseline, participants were given a task direction to complete the tasks within each setting with access to a static picture schedule. During intervention, participant task completion was evaluated when self-instructing with the use of VidAS in each setting. One participant’s settings consisted of the living room, kitchen, and outdoor schedule, the other participant’s settings consisted of a checkbook, kitchen, and laundry schedule. One participant learned to self-instruct using the mobile technology and independently complete and navigate between and within tasks within each schedule.