Group Home Residents The purpose of this paper is to ex

The explication is followed by a brief examination of the characteristics and features of the group home setting. The final section of the paper explores application of the natural support model to meeting the leisure and recreational needs of disabled group home residents.

According to Smull (1989), health care for disabled people living in group home settings is currently undergoing a paradigm shift. Specifically, the field is moving away from the medical model with its reliance on special services delivered by highly paid and credentialed professions in a fairly segregated service setting toward a system that (while maintaining responsiveness to individual needs) uses community resources to supply a wide array of supportive services.

This new paradigm has been referred to by Nisbet (1992) as the concept of "natural supports" which:

...is based on the understanding that relying on typical people and environments enhances the potential for inclusion more effectively than relying on specialized services and personnel. (p. 5)

In other words, inclusion of the disabled is a pivotal feature of the natural supports conce

. . .
uthors present a case study of a boy who had, through supportive interaction, was able to leave the Jewish Family and Children's group home for adolescent boys. According to the authors, this ability to finally live independent of the home was produced by an appropriate and successful interaction of the boy's caseworker and a volunteer on the staff of the home. Specifically, Issacs and Hoffman (1977) state that: Though the volunteer was of a different age, background, and sex, a helping relationship developed, and the volunteer was able to provide guidance to the boy, keeping in touch with him long after he left the home. Communication between the boy and the caseworker faded, but the volunteer maintained contact with the caseworker for continuing guidance and information purposes. (p. 366) What can be seen from Issacs et. al's (1977) discussion is that had the home not relied on community members or natural supports, it is likely that the boy would not have obtained all of the services he needed to be able to leave the home and to remain in the community once he did leave. Some additional insight into the group home setting can be seen in an analysis of the treatment services provided in several group homes which was
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Approximate Word count = 1993
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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