From Institutional Settings to Community Living: Enabling people with intellectual disabilities to be active citizens

This study explored how people with intellectual disabilities who reside in different types of living arrangements in the Czech Republic can be supported in enhancing Active Citizenship. Using the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as a framework of reference, this research study is a pilot conducted in the Czech Republic to implement the project DISCIT: Making people with Disabilities Full Citizens - New Knowledge for an Inclusive and Sustainable European Social Model. Taking on the work of the larger project this study explored the experiences of six people with intellectual disabilities living in community settings and six other people living in a Training House within the institution premises as a result of the deinstitutionalization in the Czech Republic and the development of Community Living. The study adopts a participatory approach supported by a qualitative design combining: semi-structured Interviews, focus group interview, aided by Visual Aid Mediation tool, as data collection methods, and qualitative data analyses. The approach allows the opportunity to reflect on, explore and disseminate the views, concerns, feelings and experiences of research participants from their own perspective. A service provider in the Czech Republic offering services to both people with..