The purpose of this paper is to review some research on the environmental characteristics of residential care settings.
The paper's approach is an integrative overview and formulation of a conceptual framework to understand and measure the key environmental domains of residential care programs.
The five major domains that comprise the characteristics of residential program are the institutional context, physical and architectural features, policies and services, aggregate resident and staff characteristics, and the social climate. The multiphasic environmental assessment procedure (MEAP), which systematically assesses these domains, shows that, for example, programs with better physical features tend to have better policy and program characteristics, more functionally able residents, more varied and experienced staff, and a more cohesive social climate.
The conceptual framework and assessment procedures can be used to provide useful information to help prospective residents and staff select appropriate residential care settings, to identify characteristics of settings most amenable to change, decide what changes would benefit residents and staff, and, by providing systematic feedback, help guide program improvement; and identify environmental features most closely associated with residents' quality of life and functional maintenance or improvement.
The paper presents a unique and innovative conceptualization of the environmental domains of residential care settings, along with a validated procedure to measure these domains.
