Day activity centres - work for people with intellectual disabilities: a norwegian perspective

Although there is a broad political consensus in Norway that the government should uphold the principles of "full employment" and "work for all", the majority of people with intellectual disabilities in Norway spend their days in segregated work arrangements or at day activity centres.

The aim of the current study was to explore what constitutes work and work roles for people with intellectual disabilities and severely limited verbal communication abilities who attend a day activity centre.

A qualitative ethnographic research design was adopted, and the data were gathered through observing the participants and through conducting conversational interviews with the staff members and the participants with intellectual disabilities. Data were analysed with a hermeneutic approach.

The findings showed that even though participants with intellectual disabilities engaged in specific work roles at the day activity centre, these work roles did not constitute work as it is ordinarily conceptualised and valued in society.

Despite the very real enjoyment that the participants derive from participating in organised occupation, the work that they do has little status or value, and the activity centre itself is not a satisfactory workplace for people with intellectual disabilities.