Background: People with intellectual disability and chronic and complex support needs often require unique models of care that are intensive and expensive. How these supports can be continued within a rapidly changing policy and funding context in Australia, has not been fully determined. Method: This descriptive study utilised a retrospective…

Background: Adults with congenital deafblindness (CDB) have received little attention from researchers. In this study we examined the nature of interactions between adults with CDB and the staff who mediate their support, and investigated the reliability of an observation coding system, originally designed for observing adults with severe…

It is widely accepted that young people residing in residential care transition to independence and adult responsibilities earlier than peers living within their family of origin. There has been a lack of literature examining the way young people in care construct this transition. In response, in-depth qualitative interviews, guided by grounded…

This paper provides an overview of demographic characteristics of direct-service personnel in Melbourne community residential units for intellectually disabled individuals. Many are found to be relatively inexperienced participants in the workforce, and most are young, single females. Implications of these findings for quality of care and staff…

An analysis of data on residential services for people with mental retardation between 1995-1999 found growth in recipients of Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement-funded residential services; a decline in the proportion of people housed in large residential settings; an increase in those served in group homes; and more rapid growth in…