Commentary on “Changes in the provision of residential care for adult persons with an intellectual disability: a national longitudinal study”

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on the previous paper in this issue “Changes in the provision of residential care for adults with an intellectual disability: a national longitudinal study”.

Design/methodology/approach

– The commentary outlines some of the challenges and potential drivers of deinstitutionalisation and community living including the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Findings

– The paper finds that the UN Convention and the practice of international organisations that fund investments in social care can potentially drive the replacement of institutions with community?based services for people with intellectual disabilities.

Originality/value

– The argument for deinstitutionalisation and community living needs to be maintained more broadly rather than being focused on certain countries or regions. Community living for people with intellectual disabilities should be a global agenda with an emphasis on the human rights of people.