ABSTRACT
In a recent and comprehensive review of “Aging and Social Care”, Cantor and Little (1985) propose that the main objective of supportive services for elderly people is “maintenance of quality of life”. The principal components related to the preservation of a positive quality of life for older people, they suggest, include adequate income and health care, suitable housing and environmental conditions, the existence of meaningful roles and relationships, and adequate social supports. This list is readily applicable to all people with disabilities; and, of course, specifically to people with mental handicap. It is the convergence of the changing needs of people who are both ageing and have mental handicaps that is the concern of this book, and such emerging needs must be viewed in relation to Cantor and Little’s list of the factors that contribute to the quality of life of people as they age.
