ABSTRACT
The issues concerning residential provision for people with mental handicap have been the subject of a great number of experimental studies, legislative measures, and assertions of the rights of individuals to live a community life which approximates as nearly as possible to that of non-handicapped people. At the same time, the residential needs of elderly non-handicapped people have also been the focus of concern by researchers and service planners. One might conclude from this that there is likely to be a substantial body of literature relating to the needs of those people who are members of both groups - i.e. older people with mental handicap. This is not, however, the case. To give an idea of the lack of overlap between the two literatures, McCarver and Craig (1974) cite 150 references in their review of community residential alternatives for people with mental handicap, while Lawton (1985) provides 181 citations relating to living environments for elderly non-handicapped individuals. Not one of these references is common to both bibliographies. At the time this chapter was written, Medical Abstracts included 382 citations back to 1966 with the key words “residence characteristics” and “aged”. Of these, five were concerned with people with mental handicap. The need for further well designed studies is therefore clear.
