The Impact of Continuity and Security on Quality of Life.

Friedman (2022) asked adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities about their lives.

The team looked at two things: how steady their living situations were and how safe they felt.

They then checked if these factors linked to quality-of-life scores across several areas.

People who had stable homes and felt in control of change scored higher on most quality-of-life measures.

Two-thirds of the life areas tested—such as social life, daily comfort, and mood—improved when continuity and security were strong.

Moreira et al. (2025) extend this view. They show that higher quality of life and lower support needs predict more self-determination in adults living in institutions.

Higgins et al. (2021) seem to disagree at first. Their Spanish survey found that COVID-19 lockdowns, which wrecked continuity, hurt emotional well-being in people with IDD. The clash fades when you see the pandemic was an extreme, one-off disruptor, not a test of everyday stability.

Droogmans et al. (2024) add frontline detail. Staff diaries reveal that warm, attuned interactions also raise client well-being. Pair steady routines with these high-quality moments and you hit two levers at once.

You can’t teach “quality of life” in one lesson, but you can guard the conditions that allow it. Keep living arrangements predictable, give clients advance notice of changes, and secure their personal items. These low-cost moves lifted two-thirds of life domains in Carli’s study—no new program required.