A home of my own
Community
Dreams are goals that we work towards. They give us a sense of
direction and fulfillment. There is a feeling of satisfaction at having
achieved our desires. Having control over one's life is a fundamental
part of fulfilling those dreams. Having others to share those dreams
with is also important. Unfortunately, the world rarely behaves the way
we would like it to. Sometimes things happen that are out of our
control and we
just have to face the reality that some dreams will never happen.
However, with the right support and skills anything is possible. The
important thing is to keep an open mind and consider your options
carefully. What may look good and inviting at first glance may have
issues or problems that are not readily apparent.
The current "buzz" word around today is the ida of "Community
Living". That we aspire to have our own place to live. Close to friends
and ammenities that are accessable. Other issues such as income,
transport, medical or other special needs need to be taken into
account. We need to look at our own needs and how those needs are going
to be satisfied. We need to look at our own skills and resources as
well as the skills and resources of each community we wish to be a part
of.
Various disability groups and organisations promote themselves as
promoting
"
community
participation" or "
community
living", but
what do they actually mean?
The goal of the current paradigm in the various Gov. departments,
organisations and services is to
include people with disability within a community.
This strategy is effective in providing local community supports for
people with low to medium support needs.
People with low to medium support needs...
Groups/Organisations ------>
living community
Groups/Organisations ------> education community
Groups/Organisations ------> employment community
Groups/Organisations ------> recreation/social community
What generally happens is that if the person does not have the skills
and resources, or each community does not have the skills and resources
...
... The person keeps the
existing
communities that he/she was a part of.
... The existing communities that the person is a part
of are relocated with the person into the new setting.
... New communities are created that have the skills and
resources to provide for the person's needs. These new communities may
be a part of a service or organisation within the wider community, or
within the wider disability community.
People with high support needs
Groups/Organisations <------
living community
Groups/Organisations <------ education community
Groups/Organisations <------ employment community
Groups/Organisations <------ recreation/social community
A person or group may be
disadvantaged in that there
is no service (skills or resources) that supports their needs.
In remote areas where there are no services,
or where they do not fit
the criteria
of a service,
or where a service does not have the skills and resources,
they have to rely on their own networks and support mechanisms or
others in the community for support.
If the person or group does not have any support:
may become isolated
may become a burden on their own community
may be placed in other services that are not appropriate to their
needs
may be grouped together
may be labeled
with the same characteristics
may have their rights taken away from them
may be seen as a minority group and therefore may be treated as a
minority group
may be denied the good things in life that are available to others in
the
community
A lack of skills and resources in the community also means that the
person may be seen as:
a sick person : the person
is treated
differently to others
a nuisance
: takes up resources that are needed elsewhere
a
troublemaker : is always trying to standup for their basic rights
an
object of pity : the person can not look after themselves
subhuman or retarded : is not capable of making their own decisions
In fact some members of these groups are often placed in the same
settings
today (both literally and figuratively) that Goffman, Wolfensberger and
others wrote about in the past.
Asylum seekers
Aboriginals
Aged
People with drug and alcohol problems
People with mental illnesses
People with high support needs
Etc.
Sometimes people are
separated
for
their own good and in the best
interests of their community ...
they are a harm to
themselves
they are a harm to others in their community
The above can happen in any place at any time where the community does
not have the skills and resources to look after their needs.
Community
needs Vs Personal
needs
A person that is living in a single person dwelling, for example, would
need
some basic skills in maintaining the dwelling as well as personal
living skills.
The person would also need to be able to access various facilities
(shopping,
work, recreational, education etc) in the local community in which
he/she in
living. Any assistance would need to be provided by family, volunteer
or
professional help. Either way, the person has to arrange the assistance
(depending on the persons needs) with others that are providing the
service. If
the service is provided by a service provider, the person also has to
fit into
the service provider. The staff of the service provider provide the
service,
which means that the various formal / informal cultures, objectives,
hierarchies, goals, policies, constitutions, unwritten laws or codes of
behaviour etc, become a part of the normal routine of the dwelling.
There are
reports, care plans, medical charts, drug sheets, time sheets etc.
Staff may
provide 24 hour support which means that there may not be a consistency
of
care. Alternatively, the person may be only supported a few hours a day
which
means that the person may be left by him/her self with no company for
the rest
of the day (which does happen).
People with high support needs (aged, severe disability, drug
rehabilitation
etc) will need more intensive care and more structured settings. They
are
restricted in what they can and can’t do and are dependent on others.
Whatever
the building is that they live in, because of their condition, they
will never
be able to live independently.
Rather than build better individual housing, supported accommodation
etc, maybe
we need to build better communities that are more able to fulfill the
needs and
provide valued roles to its members. By promoting institutions as an
important
part of the community, we can develop a more appropriate (and holistic)
approach to balancing the needs of people that have a physical or
intellectual
disability with the needs of the community that they live in, i.e.
people are
placed in accommodation that is most appropriate for their needs, as
well as
the needs of the community in which they live.
"On the one
hand, some
critics have argued that deinstitutionalisation has resulted in at best
reformist housing models and at worst exclusionary housing processes
that have
‘transposed the same structures, routines and cultures of institutions
out into
community settings’ (Chenoweth 2000: 85). By contrast, other groups
feel that
deinstitutionalisation has been too transformative. In particular, some
relative/advocate associations have sought to counter community care
debates
with an alternative construction of ‘reform’ that centres on the
‘re-creation,
not closure, of institutions through systematic improvements to
infrastructure
and services’ (Gleeson & Kearns 2001: 66). As we have noted,
such
countercurrents have successfully (re)conditioned the course of human
service reform
and, in some states, reopened a policy-political ‘space’ for congregate
care.
In summary,
Australia’s future
phases of deinstitutionalisation are certain to be contested by
different
socio-political interests. As a consequence, the housing futures of
current
institutional residents are likely to be contested and – for some
service users
– may not involve significant change to the place and form of their
care.
Moreover, the rehousing of some institutional residents may be delayed
by the
multiplicity of interests and support claims that will confront policy
makers
and service agencies in the future. Whilst we do not support the
continuation
of orthodox forms of institutional care, the contest over housing
futures that
is increasingly apparent in Australian policy realms may not in itself
be a bad
thing for service users.
Indeed,
promoting
participation by all stakeholders in decision-making is a cornerstone
of social
inclusion and essential to ensure that everyone can gain access to the
housing
and support services they need to achieve their own potential in life.
This
means that a contested rehousing process will be constructive if it
produces
reflective rather than conflictual service reform. Much will depend on
how
service agencies manage discussions and consultations about policy
development
(see Gleeson & Kearns 2001 on this). A more reflective mode of
reform is,
in our opinion, more likely to produce heterogeneous not formulaic
housing and
support options for people in care. A diverse and flexible community
care
housing landscape will be better equipped to meet the individual
accommodation
needs and desires of service users and thereby enhance social
inclusion." (Contested
Housing Landscapes? Social Inclusion, Deinstitutionalisation and
Housing Policy
in Australia)
Think of the facility you are living in:
Is it a single dwelling, shared accommodation, a town house, a boarding
house,
an apartment or in a block of flats?
Where is the facility located?
Do you enjoy living in the facility?
What networks and valued relationships do you have within the facility?
What networks and valued relationships do you have in the wider
community?
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When providing the most appropriate care for people with high support
needs ...
1) The community is not
where the
person is living, but where the
person participates, shares experiences and has valued relationships
with others.
2) People with high support needs (severe disability, aged etc.)
will always need support structures as a part of their lives.
3) The amount of participation in a community (living, education,
employment or recreation) is directly related to the skills and
resources of the person, and, the skills and resources of the
community that the person wishes to participate in.
4) Institutions are going to be around in one form or another
whether we like it or not, It is the way that they are used that is the
problem.
5) The institutions of a society towards a particular group
determine the way the group participates in society.
6) The institutions of a particular government department,
organisation,
profession or service define the way the person is supported within
that society.
7) Facilities that support people with high support needs do not
need to be the nursing homes or prisons in the
sense
that they are today, but can become warm inviting community places that
offer a range of services to the community, as well as be a part of the
wider community within that society.
8) People with high support needs are a minority group in our
society, and will have the same problems as other minority groups in
being a part of society.