DAILY ACTIVITY, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN AN ORDINARY HOUSING NETWORK

Many studies of the quality of ordinary housing have relied upon objec tive indices, which permit only inferential judgements to be made abou t the quality of life of service users. Quality of Life (QOL) has rece ntly emerged as a key outcome criterion against which to assess the su ccess of community based services for people with intellectual disabil ities. A small scale study was conducted to assess the extent to which objective measures of service quality were enhanced by the addition o f a subjective, QOL, measure. Service users' engagement in domestic ac tivity, staff contacts and participation in the local community were a ssessed and, in addition, the Quality of Life Questionnaire (Schalock & Keith, 1993) was completed. Data suggested that isolation and diseng agement characterised the sample. Perceived QOL was correspondingly po or. It is concluded that the ordinary house remains a necessary, but i nsufficient, component of an integrative service model.