There are many reasons why people need support and help from others. One may be that you live with a disability. The ones who help, often staff has a role as a helper. To be able to help you have automatic power because a person who helps is neither powerless nor helpless. It differs in a way this power is expressed, used and what impact it has om both helpers and those who receive help. The purpose of the study is to increase the knowledge about the staffs work with people living in grouphomes, their opportunity for a privatelife based on the concepts of self-determination and integrity, the conditions they have and the difficulties that exist in the work. This mainly of two basic needs, food and sexuality.

Focusgroups where used as a method. Eleven staff, seven women and four men, from seven grouphomes participated in three different focusgroups. To analyse the results, theories of power and help, criptheory and the normalizationprinciple have been used.

The staff are aware of their position of power in their helper role and they see problems with it. Part of what the staff talk about is the balance between security/safety and self-determination. There is a consensus among staff in the study that food and sexuality sometimes require staff to make boundaries for the people living in the grouphomes. At the same time there is ambivalence and shared opinions in the focusgroups with when the boundaries should be drawn. Some staff give suggestions on minimizing risks as much as possible in order to create security for the people living in the grouphomes while other staff lean more towards that it is ok with certain risks in life.

People who live in the grouphomes their own sexuality, self-determination and integrity are safeguarded. If the sexuality includes a partner or partners, it can sometimes be interrupted by staff. The people who live in the grouphomes and are or can be interpreted to be within the scope of LGBTQ they get acceptance and support from staff. The staff are responsive to self-determination and safeguard the integrity of the people who live in grouphomes. It can be interpreted as that the society’s previous norms and values have adapted and included people with disability. This differs from previous research and this needs to be complementary with more research. It can be said that the staff is “the good helper”. The power aspect is always present and there are many examples of when it is exercised by the staff. Much indicates that this exercise of power is a great help to support people in the grouphomes. There are also examples of when the power does not lead to so much help or occasions when it only hurts without helping. Self-determination and integrity in relation to safety and security for the people living in grouphomes leads to difficult situations for staff, how they shall balance boundary, responsibility and power. The organisation has a great responsibility to provide greater conditions for the staff and strengthen them in their role.