In the countries that ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol (among them Croatia), the so far research on the implementation of the Convention is mainly focused on legislative activities, while qualitative studies that rely on personal accounts, and give the experiential perspective of the persons with disabilities, their families, experts, and other significant partners in the network of support, the research which is related to social inclusion of the persons with intellectual or other disabilities, is comparatively rare on a global and national level. This study aims to gain a deeper insight and a greater understanding (through self-perception) of institutionalized users with disabilities personal experiences and views related to the quality of living in the institution. The study also aims to investigate to what extent the role of the rehabilitation program, free time activities, and the programs of psychological support and social assistance within the institution are from the user's perspective, essential resources that can guarantee mental and physical health, good quality of living and user's integration into the local community. In the research process, the triangulation of the qualitative methods on the descriptive level (photovoice, semi-structured interviews) is used to collect primary data. For collecting secondary data from the literature, desk research analysis and synthesis methods are used, and for the evaluation of the results, inductive content analysis. The research was carried out in March 2022 on the intended sample of the users of The Rehabilitation Centre Varaždin, which comprises persons with intellectual disabilities, one of them deprived of legal capacity (N=3; F=3), and persons with physical disabilities (N=3; F=1). The created tools consist of the informed consent form for the examinees or their legal representatives, digital form of experiential diary (used for collecting research participants taken and described photos), and the semi-structured interview protocol. The results obtained, in both methods, on this sample through the analysis of the answers identify an array of successful models of formal support in the Centre as good resources for positive self-perception and empowerment of the examinees, also increasing their visibility and integration into the activities of the community. However, concerning the experiential perspective of the quality of life in the institution, in this sample, it seems that this quality does not meet some basic needs of the users, and it is essential to point out the evidence of the dichotomy between the results. Positive experiences are related to some small daily pleasures, enabled accessibility and realised informal support (friends). Nevertheless, some still present physical barriers, insufficiently developed social network (outside the family), dissatisfaction with the limited possibilities of the institution to take measures aimed at eliminating inappropriate behaviour on the part of some members of the staff, and invading privacy in the condition of necessary cohabitation with other users, indicate a lower level of control the users have over their own lives and gives the feeling of self-stigma among some of them. The experience of inappropriate behaviour on the part of a medical doctor in the secondary healthcare services (in a hospital) has also been reported. In conclusion, the obtained results on this sample size give the new insight and understanding of the actual quality of life, namely the level of the acceptance criteria for the various forms of the institutional support offered to persons with disabilities in the context of generating active support resources, realizing their potential to the full, and integration to community. Furthermore, the study successfully demonstrates the use of the photovoice method in researching persons with disabilities (persons who live with physical impairment and intellectual disabilities). The photovoice method allows them to become aware of the new dimensions of their everyday life in the institution. It helps them to be more self-confident while communicating with the staff and among themselves about their wishes and needs. They become more self-confident in telling stories they perceive as amusing and let their voice be heard outside the institution. This photovoice method even opens some new horizons of curiosity and positive expectations about future, still unknown experiences. In this context, this research can be counted among the examples of good practice and could serve as a solid foundation for further research in the given field as well as the guidance to institutions to take concrete steps towards initiating changes in the universal design but also in some aspects of their formal support to users.