1. Group living provisions come in various different formats, with a not ‘one size fits all’ approach as with more traditional services offered in the past. The introduction of the 1990 NHS and community care act meant a more community based approach was adopted. With the introduction of person centred care, supporting the independence and autonomy of the individual has become best practice. In some cases, it may still be necessary that individuals need or choose to live in a group living environment. These services should continue to support the individual’s independence and enable the individual to achieve their desired outcomes.
Fortunately in modern society the concept that all people should have the same rights, civil liberties, access to everyday living conditions and circumstances as everyone else, regardless of disabilities is a forgone conclusion. Wolf Wolfensberger, formulated an analysis of human relationships and human services, this was called Social role valorisation (SVR): this was the successor to and earlier principle of Normalisation. The theory is widely based on the idea that society often tends to identify groups of people as fundamentally ‘different’ and of less value than everyone else. Cataloguing methods of this ‘devaluation’ and analysing its effects. The normalisation principle means making patterns of life and everyday living available to those with disabilities which are as close to the regular circumstances and ways of life. The goal of SVR is to create and support a culture of socially valued roles, for individuals in their society. It is believed that if a person holds valued social roles, the individual is likely to feel valued in their society and able to achieve a good standard of living, ‘the good things in life’, these include:
* Home and family
* Friendship
* Dignity, respect and acceptance
* A sense of belonging
* Opportunities to participate
* A good standard of living
Within the...