An ecological comparison of small community-based houses and traditional institutions--II. Physical setting and the use of opportunities.

Abstract The effects of transferring severely and profoundly mentally-handicapped adults from institutional to community care and the use made of the physical setting were examined. The material enrichment of two small homes in the community and six institutional settings was assessed and the use made of each type of item in the environment was observationally measured. Two comparisons were made: (a) between an experimental group of six people in a small home and a comparable control group, of which one member lived in each of the six institutions; and (b) between the latter group both when in institutions and following transfer to a small home. The inventories of the physical environment showed an increased level of opportunity in the small homes due to the considerably greater presence of and access to equipment and materials. Residents of the small homes demonstrated a greater range and extent of usage of the physical setting than the institutional group. The type of materials significant in the difference and the implications for the value of institutional adaption are discussed.