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Comments on the study of people with an intellectual disability. Inferiority of the standard of various objectively measured variables for the people living in cluster housing; Behavior of people living in cluster housing; Consideration of a study that compared pensioners with socialites on the extent of their social networks.

This review concerns the life quality of people caring for a relative with a severe disability within their family. It involves the balance between the advantages such care brings to the care recipient and the costs borne by the family. A brief history indicates that the forces that encourage family care are minimally concerned with family welfare. Moreover, an analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data indicates that primary caregivers are at considerable risk of high stress, clinical depression, and abnormally low subjective quality of life. It is concluded that increased public expenditure directed to the care of people with severe disability is urgently required.

The move into community-based supported accommodation for people with an intellectual disability can be exciting and rewarding but also confusing, demanding and perhaps even frightening. Yet, there has been little empirical or descriptive research into the emotional lives of this group. This study follows the concerns and stresses of four people with an intellectual disability for five months as they negotiate the trials and rewards of moving out into a flat in the community, with only drop-in support. The strongest trend emerging from all four participants is that the transition is not perceived by them to be stressful, but rather as a positive event which lowers general stress levels at the time. Unfortunately, the participants in this study found that other issues in their life gradually re-emerged and their perceived stress level soon rose again. Implications are drawn from the data for those involved in supporting people with an intellectual disability to move into supported accommodation.

Individual Program Plans are an essential component of quality assurance in service delivery to people with an intellectual disability. This paper describes a system for the evaluation of such plans. One hundred and sixty-three plans were analysed from clients being serviced by 11 Community Living Support Services. While the plans prepared by non-government agencies were generally superior, the average level of plan presentation was poor. Only 14% offered any criterion for evaluating performance objectives, the average number of skill-building objectives was less then three per plan, and only 39% of plans were current. It is concluded that if Individual Program Plans are to realize their quality assurance potential, the issues of staff resources, staff training in plan preparation and overall professional accountability will need to be addressed.