[Housing wishes of people with complex disabilities]

Article 19 of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires people with disabilities to have the same possibilities as other people when choosing their place of residence and living environment. The question arises as to what extent this entitlement is currently ensured for people with complex disabilities and how their wishes can be ascertained in respect of living conditions.

Identification and (further) development of methods and procedures to document the housing wishes of people with complex disabilities and nursing care needs.

Implementation and evaluation of a systematic international literature search, survey of residential changes in the form of guided interviews, experimental testing and further development of methods and procedures for the identification of wishes related to living conditions.

It transpired that people with complex disabilities have limited choices regarding their housing situation. Useful information about housing and living wishes of the target group results, in particular, from employing person-centered methods. Furthermore, influencing factors and challenges, such as long-term experience of socialization in inpatient settings and of custodial decision-making are also identified.

Currently, housing and special wishes related to living conditions of the described target group are not high on the agenda. The recording of such wishes requires extensive knowledge of the individual and involves intensive personal interaction, so that the process of determining the ideal housing format proves to be time-consuming and resource-intensive.