Community integration: conceptualisation and measurement

Abstract

Purpose: To provide an overview of the conceptualisation of community integration as proposed in the literature, to review select measures of community integration that have been frequently used in disability and rehabilitation, and finally, to discuss future directions for community integration research.

Method: Review of select measures published in PsycInfo- and PubMed-indexed literature representing a width of community integration conceptualisations.

Conclusions: A variety of measures have been developed and validated in disability and rehabilitation research addressing different models of community integration, with additional measures originally developed in the adjacent disciplines presenting potential for application to research in community integration for individuals with disabilities. Research is needed to further clarify the multidimensional nature of community integration and to develop sound measures of community integration. To the extent that community integration is a function of various factors (e.g., individual and contextual) and involves multiple dimensions (e.g., physical, social and psychological), the advancement in research in this area should, in turn, contribute to planning and implementation of interventions directed at individual and societal levels, including relevant policymaking, towards expansion of community integration.