An examination of lifestyle and adjustment in three community residential alternatives.

Lifestyle normalization, community integration, adjustment, social support, and personal satisfaction were examined for 133 adults with mild and moderate retardation living in small group homes, supervised apartments, and with their natural families. Results of questionnaires and structured interviews with care providers showed that the residence settings supported quite different lifestyles with respect to independence, lifestyle normalization, and integration. Persons in supervised apartments achieved the most normative lifestyles with greater personal independence and community integration while reporting levels of lifestyle satisfaction and personal well-being similar to that of persons living with their own families. Results also showed that social integration, that is, participation in activities with peers without disabilities, was extremely limited for all participants, even those living in natural families. The study exemplifies the use of a residential typology to investigate the relationship of environmental factors to community adjustment. It also exemplifies the use of multiple perspectives and multiple measures to evaluate quality of life in community living alternatives.

Field-based generation and social validation managers and staff competencies for small community residences.

Characteristics and competencies for four staff positions in community residences for individuals with mental retardation were identified utilizing multiple empirical and deductive methods with field-based practitioners and field-based experts. The more commonly used competency generation methods of expert opinion and job performance analysis generated a high degree of knowledge and skill-based competencies similar to course curricula. Competencies generated by incumbent practitioners through open-ended methods of personal structured interview and critical incident analysis were ones which related to personal style, interpersonal interaction, and humanistic orientation. Although seldom included in staff, paraprofessional, or professional training curricula, these latter competencies include those identified by Carl Rogers as essential for developing an effective helping relationship in a therapeutic situation (i.e., showing liking, interest, and respect for the clients; being able to communicate positive regard to the client). Of 21 core competency statements selected as prerequisites to employment for all four staff positions, the majority (17 of 21) represented interpersonal skills important to working with others, including responsiveness to resident needs, personal valuation of persons with mental retardation, and normalization principles.