The role of ‘natural supports’ in promoting independent living for people with disabilities; a review of existing literature

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Abstract

Accessible summary This paper is a summary of research on the support people with disabilities get from their friends and family. The research is mostly about people with intellectual disabilities, but there is also some research on people with other disabilities. The main findings in the research are as follows: People with intellectual disabilities have small groups of supporters. These supporters are family, friends with intellectual disability and people who work in services. People with disabilities say that services could provide more support for making and keeping friends. There are projects that have helped people with disabilities make friends and be a part of their community. More research is needed on these projects. Policy makers, services and other people who deliver services should put more efforts into supporting people with disabilities to make friends in their community. Summary The purpose of this review was to identify the available evidence base on role of natural supports in promoting independent living for people with disabilities. A search of peer‐reviewed literature identified 30 core papers and 16 contextual papers which addressed issues relating to natural supports and their role in facilitating independent living. The papers reveal that the evidence base is limited and focuses heavily on the social networks of people with intellectual disabilities, which typically comprise family, other people with disabilities using services and staff members. People with disabilities themselves call for greater support in establishing and maintaining social relationships in the community. Some initiatives such as peer‐based support and befriending schemes are reviewed, mindful that few have been formally evaluated. The issue for policy makers is whether, following decades of deinstitutionalisation, efforts to physically locate people with disabilities within their local communities have come at the price of social inclusion.

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