Quantity and Quality of Participation in Community Environments by Mentally Retarded Adults

Educators must be sure that mentally retarded adults living in the community are truly integrated and not merely living institutional lives in a new place. Mentally retarded adult men and women living in group home and intermediate group residences (IGR) were interviewed and observed to determine both the quantity and quality of their actual participation in a variety of community environments. All participants spent a majority of their time in their homes. Group home men played a more active role in their integration, occasionally going to community environments of their own choosing without supervision. IGR men and women went less often into the community and rarely (IGR men) or never (IGR women) went out without a supervisor. Implications and suggestions for further research are also discussed.