%0 Journal Article
%T What does 'feeling at home' mean for adults with intellectual disabilities living in group homes in England?
%A Chinn D
%A Levitan T
%A Power A
%A Brickley K
%A Ali S
%J J Appl Res Intellect Disabil
%V 37
%N 5
%D 2024 Sep
%M 39143804
%F 2.162
%R 10.1111/jar.13274
%X BACKGROUND: Shared housing for adults with intellectual disabilities with staff support, is a common housing model internationally. We explored an overlooked aspect of group homes, namely the extent to which they enable a sense of 'feeling at home' for residents.
METHODS: A diverse group of 19 housemates participated in a photovoice study. Participants took photos in their homes and discussed them in individual interviews and in groups. Data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Residents' experience of home was multi-dimensional. 'Feeling at home' related to home as a site of identity cultivation (personal home); physical comfort or 'misfitting' (physical home) and home as the locus of key relationships (social home).
CONCLUSIONS: Achieving a sense of 'feeling at home' requires engagement in practices of home-making. Many of our participants required support from staff to engage in these practices. For some housemates their experience of home was conditional and precarious.