title: Community-based day-care services for people with intellectual disabilities in Georgia: a step towards their social integration.
abstract: This article discusses the role of community-based day-care services in the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Georgia. The study explores the impact of this service on users' social-adaptive skills, social life and sense of happiness, comparing service users and a matched comparison group. A mixed-methods approach was used to assess the influence of day-care-centre services on social adaptation and integration. Results indicated that the level of social-adaptive skills was higher for day-care-centre participants than for the comparison group along several key dimensions. Similarly, the level of social integration was higher for the day-care-centre group, although the two groups did not differ significantly on reported happiness. The findings from this study revealed that day-care-centre participants with intellectual disabilities enjoyed a greater degree of social interaction and socializing opportunities than their non-participant peers.
authors.affiliation: Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia. tmakharadze@gwbmail.wustl.edu
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Makharadze
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kitiashvili
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Bricout
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D005846:Georgia (Republic); D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012919:Social Behavior; D012951:Socialization; D055815:Young Adult