A new University of Queensland study has found that most former residents of the Challinor Centre at Ipswich are living better lives following deinstitutionalisation.
"Overall, they have more control over their lives and they are living life styles similar to ordinary people in the community," said Dr Louise Young, of UQ’s Fred and Eleanor Schonell Special Education Research Centre.
"These residents once did not have a choice about when they should clean their teeth or take a shower, or be able to sleep in on a Sunday morning.
"It took a long time for many, once they had been deinstitutionalised, to know that they had the choice to open the pantry or the fridge when they wanted.
"There’s a delightful story of a lady in her 70s who took a long time to learn her new house in the community was her home, and that she could have a second cup of tea if she wanted."
Dr Young said the study’s findings vindicated the State Government’s decision to close the institution, which was controversial at the time.
The Challinor Centre, which housed people with intellectual disabilities, had a history dating from 1878.
It was offered by the State Government in December 1996 to UQ as a potential campus site, with the Government pledging funding for capital works, site acquisition, and satisfactory relocation of Challinor residents.
UQ opened the door to its first students in February, 1999, and currently has more than 1900 students enrolled at the UQ Ipswich campus.
The project, supervised by Professor Adrian Ashman, was funded by an Australian Research Council/SPIRT grant. It traced 160 Challinor residents from August, 1995, and commenced well before discussions between the State Government and the University.
The study followed residents for five years as they were relocated into the community to live. With successive changes in the Queensland Government, the project had a nine month hiatus in the middle until it was approved to be continued.
Dr Young worked closely with the Department of Families, Youth and Community Care (now Disability Services Queensland).
She said Challinor had seen to be an institution of last resort, with some people sent there because there was nowhere else for them to go.
"The institution had an ageing population, with some people who had been there for 50 or 60 years and it was the only home they had ever known," she said.
There were also residents with severe disabilities and behavioural issues.
Eventually 104 residents were relocated into houses in the community, from the Gold Coast to Cairns, some having to move more than once because of Not In My Back Yard concerns.
Some residents’ families did not want them to take up the community housing option. Forty-five residents were placed in centre-based accommodation, with smaller purpose-built centres at Loganlea and Bracken Ridge. Some residents were relocated to the Basil Stafford Centre and elected to stay there; some have passed away since the study began.
Dr Young assessed residents’ adaptive behaviour, using a standardised measure, the Adaptive Behaviour Scale. She examined choice making and developed an assessment tool, The Life Circumstances Questionnaire for objective data reported by carers. She collected baseline data, then followed through with further data collection at one, six, 12, 18 and 24 months. Although her PhD is complete, the study is still ongoing.
She said some of the greatest gains had been made by people with severe disabilities, although it could be argued that those were the people with the most room for improvements. Conversely, some people with mild disabilities had not progressed as well as expected and this finding related to the type of staff support they received.
She said no scientific study could quantify the "twinkle in people’s eyes" as people opened the doors of their own homes, and made eye contact with visitors for the first time in years.
Media: Further information Dr Louise Young telephone 07 3365 6438 or Jan King at UQ Communications, telephone 0413 601 248.
