Community-based day-care services for people with intellectual disabilities in Georgia: a step towards their social integration

Abstract

This article discusses the role of community-based day-care services in the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Georgia. The study explores the impact of this service on users’ social-adaptive skills, social life and sense of happiness, comparing service users and a matched comparison group. A mixed-methods approach was used to assess the influence of day-care-centre services on social adaptation and integration. Results indicated that the level of social-adaptive skills was higher for day-care-centre participants than for the comparison group along several key dimensions. Similarly, the level of social integration was higher for the day-care-centre group, although the two groups did not differ significantly on reported happiness. The findings from this study revealed that day-care-centre participants with intellectual disabilities enjoyed a greater degree of social interaction and socializing opportunities than their non-participant peers.