By Carli Friedman, CQL Director of Research
Although more people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) live in the community than ever before, many people are not meaningful included in their communities. People with dual diagnosis – those with IDD and psychiatric disabilities – are at particular risk for re-/institutionalization as they often lack the community infrastructure to support them. For these reasons, in this study by CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership we examined the impact organizational supports can have on the community outcomes of people with dual diagnosis. To do so, we analyzed Personal Outcome Measures® interview data from 533 people with dual diagnosis.
Our findings revealed organizational supports can have a massive impact on the community integration of people with dual diagnosis. When individualized organizational supports were in place, people with dual diagnosis were 18.1 times more likely to interact with other members of the community compared to people who did not receive organizational supports. Compared to people who did not receive organizational supports, people with dual diagnosis who received organizational supports were 35.9 times more likely to participate in the life of the community. When individualized organizational supports were in place, people with dual diagnosis were 112.8 times more likely to use their environments compared to people who did not receive organizational supports. Finally, when individualized organizational supports were in place, people with dual diagnosis were a whopping 136.1 times more likely to live in integrated environments compared to people who did not receive organizational supports.
“To promote the community integration of people with IDD with dual diagnosis a number of disparities need to be addressed. States need to recognize the lack of community infrastructure and gaps in service provision hinder the quality of life of people with dual diagnosis… Moreover, attention to these disparities requires provider transformation to a system that moves beyond custodial models of care, and introduces evidenced based, person-centered practices. A stronger and more robust service system is necessary to ensure people with dual diagnosis have the same opportunities as not only people with IDD without psychiatric disabilities, but also nondisabled people” (Friedman, 2020, p. 15).
This article is a summary of the following journal manuscript: Friedman, C. (2021). Organizational supports to promote the community integration of people with dual diagnosis. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 59(2), 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-59.2.101
Promoting the Community Integration of People with Dual Diagnosis