Residential transitions from nursing homes for adults with cerebral palsy

Purpose: The impact of moving out of nursing homes into community-based set tings for adults with cerebral palsy was assessed by comparing the health a nd community functioning of movers and non-movers at time 1 and 3 years lat er at time 2. Subjects: The sample included 83 non-movers and 28 movers age 30 years and older who initially were living in nursing homes. The majority of residents had severe to profound mental retardation. The movers transferred to 15 co mmunity-based settings between 1 and 3 years (mean of 2 years) prior to the time 2 assessment. Assessments of residents at baseline and at follow-up i ncluded health measures (health status, health limits, mobility limits, day s hospitalized and depression) and community functioning measures (adaptive functioning, maladaptive behaviour, community inclusion, day programme hou rs and monthly wages). Results: Findings indicated that movers showed benefits in terms of improve d health and community functioning. For movers, health status, mobility lim itations, and community inclusion improved, while there were no significant changes for non-movers. This research corroborates previous research on th e effects of deinstitutionalization and expands its implications to a group with severe disabilities.