Narratives of Home: Personal accounts of life in the community following resettlement from an assessment and treatment unit

Introduction

A raft of policy initiatives demonstrate the current focus on the resettlement of people with intellectual disabilities from Assessment and Treatment Units (ATUs)  in England. There is a strong imperative towards rethinking how adult social care is provided to adults with intellectual disabilities and a drive to diminish the inappropriate use of ATU, through prolonged stays, placing people at a distance from their home communities and lack of a discharge plan. Fast track sites have been established to increase the pace of moves from ATU into the community and it is intended that significant learning as to what works in this process can be gleaned from these sites. This project aims to learn from the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities in relation to their sense of home and what that means in terms of choice, independence, personalisation and empowerment, through gathering personal narratives of the experiences of people who have lived in an ATU and latterly moved to live in a community setting. The overall aim of this project is to understand from the point of view of adults with intellectual disabilities the experience and meaning of the transition from life in an assessment and treatment unit, and their return to the community. The intention is to bring a distinct focus on the individual stories of people’s experiences of home.