Introduction: Independence, in the view of the Center for Independent Living, means taking leadership of one's own life, even if one has a severe disability. It is not about personal or financial independence, but about each individual receiving the necessary support to live his or her own life in his or her own way.
Objectives: We hypothesized that users of the Center for Independent Living may have a high quality of life (QOL) despite their disabilities. This study aims to clarify the current situation.
Methods: The subjects were 24 users of the Center for Independence. The survey method consisted of the Disability Support Classification (Not Applicable and Classification 1-6, with Classification 6 being the most severe), the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL: Health Related Quality of Life Scale, hereafter SF-8), and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (hereafter COPM). Measure (COPM) were collected face-to-face.
Results: Disability support categories averaged 5.6, identifying the group as severely disabled; SF-8 results showed that no items exceeded the national norm on average, but individually, some users exceeded the norm; COPM results showed that many users focused on leisure activities.
Conclusion: The results of the SF-8 revealed that users in Category 6 did not necessarily have a low quality of life; in the SF-8, items that did not involve physical exercise exceeded the norm; in the COPM, many meaningful and important tasks were directed toward leisure, indicating that the users were trying to live their lives in their own way.