Independent living for individuals with developmental disabilities must be reconceptualized beyond mere functional independence. It should be understood as a rights-based framework that encompasses self-determination, social participation, and autonom...
Independent living for individuals with developmental disabilities must be reconceptualized beyond mere functional independence. It should be understood as a rights-based framework that encompasses self-determination, social participation, and autonomy in decision-making throughout the life course. However, existing policies in South Korea remain predominantly guardian-centered and provider-driven, resulting in a structural disconnect between policy design, implementation, and the lived experiences of individuals with developmental disabilities. Moreover, current discourse on independent living has largely focused on the availability of services, while empirical studies grounded in the perspectives and subjective needs of service users remain scarce.
In response, this study proposes a new policy paradigm—an independent living system centered on policy recipients—and seeks to empirically evaluate policy effectiveness based on the direct experiences of adults with developmental disabilities. The research applies Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) to nine key policy domains: health and rehabilitation, housing, caregiving, employment and income, daytime and after-school activities, culture and leisure, lifelong education, self-determination, and future planning. This approach enables a visual mapping of policy insufficiencies and areas of oversupply, providing strategic insights into where targeted interventions are needed.
Grounded in the disability rights model, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and ecological systems theory, the study conceptualizes independent living as an interactive process shaped by individual, familial, community, and institutional dynamics. Special attention is paid to two foundational pillars of independent living: self-determination and future planning.
The study received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Kangnam University (KNU-HR-2025007) and involved face-to-face surveys with 120 adults with developmental disabilities residing in Gyeonggi Province. To ensure cognitive accessibility and response accuracy, the research employed Easy Read materials, visual supports, augmentative and alternative communication(AAC) tools, and illustrative scenarios. Following data collection, 27 sub-indicators were categorized into four IPA quadrants based on relative importance and performance. Additionally, Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine interrelationships among policy areas, including employment, housing, and lifelong education.
Key findings indicate that future planning, caregiving, and lifelong education were rated high in importance but low in performance, highlighting an urgent need for policy intervention. Among these, future planning showed the largest discrepancy, emerging as the highest-priority area for improvement. Conversely, self-determination, housing support, and employment and income security exhibited relatively established policy frameworks but require qualitative refinement and sustained investment. In contrast, areas such as culture and leisure, daytime and after-school activities, and health services revealed low user satisfaction despite significant resource allocation, suggesting a need for service redesign and enhanced accessibility.
To ensure substantive realization of independent living, the study recommends the institutionalization of self-determination rights, expansion of supported decision-making (SDM) mechanisms, reinforcement of community-based care infrastructure, and the introduction of personal budget systems to broaden user autonomy. Furthermore, the establishment of an integrated, life-course-oriented support framework—connecting employment, housing, and education—is identified as essential for sustained independence and inclusion.
Ultimately, this study contributes to both theoretical and practical knowledge by offering a data-driven assessment of policy priorities and gaps in independent living for adults with developmental disabilities. It provides a foundational evidence base for future policy reform and underscores the need for expanded qualitative, comparative, and participatory research to build more inclusive, rights-based service systems.