Discourse and Resistance in Care Assessment: Integrated Living and Community Care

This paper illustrates how value conflicts between the competing philosophies of community care and integrated living are played out at a micro level. The experiences of service users in Derbyshire show how the process of care assessment can perpetuate traditional discourses of disability based on dependency, individualization and segregation. By contrast, self-assessment within an integrated living approach opens up new possibilities for resistance through the supported self-empowerment of service users. Moreover, the participation of disabled people in managing their own affairs challenges established cultural values about the role of disabled people in society.