Normalization and integration: a look at the Swedish experience.
Quality service provision is seen as an integral and essential element of the normalization effort in Sweden. Results of the present study suggest that Sweden's well-developed system of comprehensive services and support for individuals with mental retardation ensures a level of security and material well-being that allows these people to live and function within society-at-large. Considered in relation to Nirje's (1980) elaboration of integration as it pertains to normalizing the life conditions of persons with mental retardation, functional and physical integration are clearly evident in many community settings. At the same time, other indicators of integration, such as social relations and association with people without mental retardation, suggest that social integration continues to challenge the community living endeavors in Sweden in much the same way as it does in North America.
Pedlar
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Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003688:Deinstitutionalization / Q000639:trends*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013548:Sweden