D6.1 Comparative analysis of the current state of affairs in community living Review of statistics, law, policy and research on deinstitutionalisation and community living for persons with disabilities
Abstrakt
This report draws on templates completed by local researchers for each of the 9 participating countries - Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. It also draws on other international reports and research literature with the aim of describing the current situation of people with disabilities in each country and across Europe more generally, with a particular focus on community living as active citizenship.
Overall there have been considerable developments in last decade towards community based support for people with disabilities, but with substantial progress still needed. In some countries institutional provision is still the main form of provision, especially for those with more severe disabilities.
In all countries services for more than 30 people on one site still exist although in Norway this is for only a very few people with multiple and profound physical disabilities (e.g. following an accident) and in Sweden only in the form of acute services for people with mental health problems. Even in countries where the process of closing the older hospitals has completed, a trend towards re-institutionalisation has been reported.
In terms of active citizenship little information exists in most countries about the experiences of people with disabilities and however the information that does exist indicates that people with disabilities (especially those with more severe disabilities and in particular those with intellectual disability) have little choice over where they live, with whom they live and who supports them. They experience lack of freedom even within their own homes and lives and often do not receive the support needed to support their inclusion in their local communities.