Institutional care model for the disabled: The case of Hope Home in İstanbul

The independent living movement dates back to the 1970s. Initially, it aimed at removing environmental and attitudinal barriers to university study independently then this movement spread to all areas of society. United Nations acceptance of the disability rights convention and after to this acceptance Independent Living and Involvement in Society with the publication of Comment No: 5, the concept has reached its most detailed form. Independent life can be considered as the most important thing that an individual's own decisions have an effect on his / her own life. In this study, in relation to the state of Turkey's side of the contract, hope home care model has been studied to understand the impact on the process of persons with disabilities to live independently, qualitative data collection and analysis techniques were used. In this research, interviews were conducted with 11 Hope Home's home officers and its past home officers in Istanbul. Interviews in line with the semi-structured form were analyzed inductively and comparatively after writing in Microsoft Office Word program under the emerging categories. The results of the research show that Hope Homes offer a combination of care for a small number of persons with disabilities, due to a home-type social services it provides advantages for persons with disabilities to being social life and to make their own decisions on their lives, nevertheless as an institutional care organization Hope Homes do not contribute to the transition of persons with disabilities to independent and uninstitutional life. The behavioral characteristics of the disability groups, the requirement of the institutional care organization and the social norms affect the participation of persons with disabilities in their living spaces and their self-decision-making on their lives. In this context, disability care models and legal arrangements to be planned should be made with considering these difficulties. Finally, it can be said that after a persons with disabilities is introduced to institutional care, the chance of these people returning to an uninstitutionalized life decreases. In this context, it can be concluded that the care support to be given to persons with disabilities and their families before the life of the institution is necessary for a life without institutions.