Community Integration Program for the Welfare of People with Developmental Disabilities
For normal human beings, going about their daily activities is a way of living life. However, there is a sector of people who cannot do it without help. Even if they are able to do it on their own, it is accompanied by great pain and work. These people, also called disabled, are better off being housed by their families in institutions against their will, institutions that were built primarily to help and care for them but have actually evolved to be a breeding ground for mistreatment, abuse, and neglect.
People with developmental disabilities are those with long-term medical problems that may be due to genetic, prenatal, or premature birth issues, so going through the daily grind of life also becomes a big concern for them and their families. . They are people who have physical or mental disabilities or have both.
Community integration is the process of being part of the community with its own dignity where each and every person enjoys certain rights and freedoms. It is the right of all people regardless of their mental and physical health, race, caste, religion, sex or age.
Community integration for people with developmental disabilities revolves around this concept that people with disabilities also have the same rights to live in a community like other people instead of being locked up in institutions unnecessarily. Even the United Nations has risen to this cause and many Western countries, such as the United States, have passed laws that protect the rights of people with mental and physical disabilities, laws that allow disabled people to co-exist in the community and not be institutionalized indefinitely. Such laws help the community accept people with developmental disabilities as active members of their community and help them live under a supervised community integration program that involves equal opportunities for education, employment, housing, health care, and recovery.
The program is set up so that people with developmental disabilities can use local transportation, live in supported apartments or specially built housing for the disabled, access local schools and hospitals, and enjoy financial independence when hired by employers who believe Job positions. for disabled people.
As a first step towards integrating disabled people into the community, young children or adults with special needs continue to stay with their parents and relatives. However, many of the youngsters find it difficult to do so as the years go by. Sometimes it also becomes stressful for elderly parents to take care of their children on an ongoing basis. In such cases, group homes become a viable option for disability housing. Since these homes have many people with similar special needs residing in one locality, it is the perfect setting for them to gain confidence and live their own lives.
Some of them also opt for assisted living for people with developmental disabilities where they can live in their own apartment, cook their own food, and receive assistance with certain daily activities such as bathing, cleaning the house, getting their daily dose of medication, and other similar activities. . These assisted apartments hire the services of unqualified or specialized people as required to provide these services.
The program also consists of the community integration of older people so that they can leave institutions and nursing homes and live in the community independently with dignity and enjoy the same rights as other people. They can choose to live in assisted living or otherwise and can access medical resources, meals, etc. as part of the community integration program.