Quality of life in group homes and older persons’ homes

Accessible summary We wanted to know whether when you get old is it better to live in older people’s homes or a home just for people with intellectual disabilities. To know this could help people choose where they want to live when they get old. We learnt: People who lived in intellectual disability homes did more activities in the home than people who lived in older people’s homes. People who lived in intellectual disability homes went out of the home more than people who lived in older people’s homes. Where people live when they get older makes a difference to their lives. Summary Older people with intellectual disabilities sometimes live in older people’s homes rather than homes for people with intellectual disabilities. Little is known about their quality of life in these homes. A non‐equivalent comparison group design was used to compare the quality of life of 59 people in three groups; older people without an intellectual disability living in older people’s homes (n = 20), older people with an intellectual disability living in older people’s homes (n = 19) and older people with an intellectual disability living in intellectual disability homes (n = 20). Data were collected on participant characteristics, adaptive behaviour and three aspects of quality of life; community involvement, participation in domestic living and choice making. The three groups were comparable in terms of gender, ethnicity and additional impairments but the older people without an intellectual disability were older and had more adaptive skills than the other groups. Older people with an intellectual disability experienced better quality of life outcomes in terms of participation in meaningful activity and community access when they lived in intellectual disability homes compared with older people’s homes. It was not possible to achieve reliability on the measure of choice‐making. This study provides some evidence to suggest that older people with an intellectual disability may be best served in intellectual disability homes rather than older people homes and that it is an area of research which needs further exploration.