Using an ecological approach to grasp the complexity of social inclusion around a person with a disability

Mapping social inclusion often focuses merely on a specific aspect of interpersonal relationships or community participation and is often executed from one perspective (either the person with a disability or a proxy).

This paper explores whether the ecological model of Simplican, Leader, Kosciulek and Leahy (2015) can serve as a basis to develop an instrument that maps a variety of influencing enabling and disabling variables on both interpersonal relations and community participation, including the input of persons with a disability, network members and professionals.

Directed content analysis was used to apply the ecological model to 14 cases of persons with a disability in independent supported living.

The ecological model proved to be a useful framework to map enabling and disabling factors of social inclusion in individual cases. Additions were made to the model, including adding a new level of 'dynamics' to grasp the dynamic reality of social inclusion. Different informants gave partly overlapping information, but the integration of the three perspectives was an added value for understanding social inclusion in all its complexities.

This paper serves as a first step in developing an in-depth instrument to map social inclusion.