The culture of rights and the inclusive processes that promote the participation of people with disabilities in the community context has grown significantly in recent years, partly as a result of changes in demographic development at the national and international level. The progressive ageing of the population and the increased life expectancy represent a very significant challenge for both people with disabilities and their families. This is a social and cultural challenge we have to face not only to guarantee inclusion and participation rights, but also to implement organizational and managerial practices and processes that make them possible. It is therefore increasingly necessary to promote reflections, to develop project ideas and practical experiments aimed at building the adult identity of people with disabilities. The creation of an adult identity is the most important prerequisite for being able to relate to and to perceive oneself as such. On the basis of these considerations, the Centro Studi e Ricerche per la Disabilità e la Marginalità (CeDisMa), in order to face the request of some educational services, in Northern Italy, carried out a research project aimed at investigating, identifying and defining the main aspects - pedagogical, architectural, organizational and managerial - of a scientifically grounded, innovative and sustainable design of daytime services for disabled adults. 

Specifically, this study was developed within two epistemic macro-areas, each structured into different work phases and related purposes: first macro-area - the state of the art and second macro-area - in-depth study.

Through a structured methodological framework, the survey, carried out between May 2021- March 2022, identified and defined important elements for the design of these services.

The emerging aspects highlight many points of interest on the pedagogical, managerial and structural level that can guide debates and actions in this field and open up further research areas.

The role of the family experiencing the disability of one of its members has gained increasing recognition. Understanding functions, needs and possible contributions that the family can offer means going beyond a care perspective, highlighting instead its qualities and skills, sometimes not immediately visible and that require to be enhanced. On the basis of these considerations, the families of adults with disabilities attending day care centers in the analyzed area, were also involved in the research project through the administration of a questionnaire. The aim was to offer them opportunities to intervene and share their needs, expectations and requirements.
A total of 20 people were reached.

In order to achieve the general aims of the project and the specific purposes for each work phase, the methodology of the research design was conceived in relation, on one hand, to the complexity of the object of investigation and, on the other, to the need to acquire the many elements considered fundamental for structuring innovative proposals, carefully adapted to the specificities and needs of the territory. In this sense, the structural structure of the research represents a methodological device of great relevance and effectiveness, on a scientific and operational level, due to the possibility of combining two necessarily interconnected dimensions: that of the investigation, which provides the essential cognitive support to act and modify the present reality; and that of the intervention, according to a logic of implementation and/or improvement, on the basis of the elements acquired, of the present reality. The research focused on all the details necessary to clarify the state of the art regarding the current and future scenarios in the field of care for adults with disability, with particular attention to a specific territorial reality in northern Italy. The areas investigated are related to three key points: •⁠ ⁠the planning of services for adult disability, which is still too often guided by emergency logics instead of educational ones; •⁠ ⁠the planning of activities aimed at users; •⁠ ⁠the individual profile of professionals and the definition of their identity.

The theme of the promotion of the adulthood of persons with disabilities, especially in the presence of particularly complex conditions, represents, also in the light of the socio-cultural transformations taking place and of the emergence of new demographic scenarios, a priority in the sphere of research, in its various disciplinary declinations, and in the agendas of national and international policies. What clearly emerges, in fact, is the need to initiate concrete actions of analysis and rethinking of the interventions and proposals made by these services, through the implementation of innovative tools for the planning, verification and evaluation of activities. Specifically, the survey conducted and presented in this work has made it possible to focus on all the details necessary to obtain a snapshot of the state of the art regarding the current scenarios of the structures and realities in question, with particular attention, specifically, to the reality of the Cantù territorial ambit. The areas investigated concern, in detail, three crucial nodes •⁠ ⁠the planning of services for adult disability, which still appears too often oriented by instances more of an emergency nature than educational in the strict sense of the term •⁠ ⁠the planning of activities aimed at users; •⁠ ⁠the profile of individual operators and the definition of their professional identity. At the end of the process, it now seems appropriate to outline the most significant elements that have emerged, on the basis of which we can hypothesise interventions and future work perspectives.

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