A MOVE FROM HOSPITAL TO COMMUNITY-BASED HOMES FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING-DISABILITIES - ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE THE HOME

Eighteen people with learning disabilities who moved from hospi tal to community-based homes were compared with a matched group of 18 who di d not. A week-long time budget diary was used to record each occasion that the person left their home, the people accompanying them on each trip, their mode of transport and their destination. The diary was com pleted before they left: the hospital and was repeated at least 1 year later. There was a strong correlation between the number of trips mad e from hospital wards at baseline and the number made at follow-up in both groups. Moving from the hospital had no significant effect on the number of trips made, but it did change their nature. Movers made mor e trips to unsegregated facilities; they made fewer trips alone and mo re in groups which included both staff and residents.