At the same time as the relatives have become
more and more visible, old institutions have been closed for the
past 20 years. Today, the principle of normality prevails, which
states that clients should live as normally as possible. This has
functioned well for the mentally retarded, who often  live
together in small groups or alone. These individuals, who were previously
considered uneducable, now function in society on their own, with
a certain amount of help. For the mentally impaired, however, the
situation has not in every case become better, since insufficient
resources have been invested in their care after the mental hospitals
have been closed. Some of them live alone in their own apartments,
or at nursing homes far away from their relatives. There is a lack
of houses or smaller buildings where the clients can live together
with others in their normal environment.
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