ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to provide the groundwork for the development of a model of quality of life which may be used to generate valid outcome measures for people with disabilities who are undergoing independent or community living programmes. Evaluators have often failed to recognize the origins of the two major service delivery developments: namely the emergence of the independent living movement, largely in the context of physical disabilities, and the deinstitutionalization process, principally in the context of mental retardation. Viewing disability from the interactionist perspective may also help us to provide a sounder theoretical base for the concept of independent living which has been seen as a popular outcome for rehabilitation programmes, particularly for people with physical disabilities. An alternative approach suggested by Halpern focused attention upon broader dimensions of community adjustment.
