Gehandicaptenzorg. Inclusie en organiseren

This research is about people with a learning disability and their quality of life. It is generally accepted that the quality of life of people with a disability can be improved if social inclusion is put into practise successfully. Chapter 1 describes how the Netherlands has poor accessibility for people with disabilities and that inclusion is far away from reality. On the basis of research and current insights partly based on this, a movement has started which argues for replacing ‘the institute model’ by ‘the support model’. However, in practice there appears to be resistance to this process. The present - segregating - care system impedes this. Guffens (1985) distinguishes three strategies for change which are closely connected to each other: (1) a strategy whereby there is an active role for people with a disability (bottom-up), (2) a strategy which is mainly aimed at politics, laws and legislation (top-down) and (3) a strategy whereby the care institutions play an important role in realizing the preconditions for social inclusion. This research, from a organisational perspective, is aimed at contributing to the insights into improving the quality of life for people with a learning disability, especially in the area of social inclusion. It considers the following: – Providing insight into the components (success and failure factors) which play a role in giving form to social inclusion, from the perspective of care organizations; – Reaching recommendations for administrators of care organizations in order to be able to give a better form to social inclusion of people with a learning disability; – Contributing to theory forming with regard to success and failure factors. The main research question The main research question is: Care organizations are also trying to contribute to social inclusion of people with a learning disability. From the point of view of care organizations, which success and failure factors play a role in this and which administrative tasks do they lead to?