A majority of adults with cognitive and/or physical disabilities following an acquired brain injury or neurological disease, have led full independent lives prior to the event and have a clear memory of that life.
Common outcomes range from problems with memory, planning and organisation, plus a lack of insight, to severe physical impairments; and, for most, loss of social networks, and a feeling of uselessness.
Traditionally, adults with disabilities have been housed in one of the following situations:
- The family home with family support (the majority)
- “Group” homes – Gov. and non-government, with paid supporters
- Aged care nursing homes and other institutions; and for a very few
- Independently, with personal support packages
The first three situations often lead to increased dependency, and a heightened sense of uselessness; where lives are controlled by others and there is little opportunity to give back or make a useful contribution. The few lucky enough to be funded through compensation or personal packages often suffer from social isolation and a similar sense of uselessness.
Even life in the family home, i.e. with parent(s), is not “normal” in an adult community, and puts strain on family relationships.
Currently people funded to live in a shared situation are generally housed according to their level of support need – i.e. people with high physical or behavioural support needs are housed with people with similar levels of disability, for economic purposes. However, this may well exacerbate the situation. Residents’ behaviour may worsen with poor role models, making the support worker’s role impossible; and residents with high physical support needs will have little incentive to improve communication and other skills.