The concept of independent living

To answer this question it is first necessary to examine what is meant by living independently in the community and exercising independence in personal relationships and at home. This will provide a yardstick against which social services and health services can be evaluated, to determine the extent to which the support provided is, or is not, failing to enable disabled people to exercise independence within the community, personal relationships and at home. The evaluation will necessarily be selective, given the breadth of the topic, and will focus primarily on the achievement of independence by disabled people in the UK.