Abstract

Deinstitutionalization, understood as a process of transition from organizing support based on institutional solutions to organizing support in a community way, with the use of the resources of local communities. Research over many years has provided evidence that alternative community-based solutions have positive outcomes in terms of effectiveness than support provided by an institution-like setting. However, the extent of available research and data on the feasibility of deinstitutionalization in individual countries, including Poland, is very limited. The analysis in the paper starts with answering the question how the population of people with disabilities, who need support in daily activities across age groups is evolving in order to grasp the potential scale of support needed (based on EFIS and SHARE data). Then the paper deals with community-based social services as the main public policy tool for deinstitutionalization and supporting independent living in terms of their accessibility and quality. In the third part the paper reviews support practices based on deinstitutionalized solutions targeted at people with disabilities in Poland, consisting of several interrelated elements: housing support, socialized institutional support, family support, active rehabilitation, integrated social services. Practices based on deinstitutionalized community-based solutions, taking mainly the form of social services, can be identified in Poland. They testify to the potential of deinstitutionalized support in Poland and the existence of verified ways of implementing such solutions. However, there is a lack of a coherent system, the implemented measures are point-wise in nature and do not create a coherent system with permanent financing.

Presenters

Izabela Grabowska
Assistant Professor, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics, Mazowieckie, Poland

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Public Policy and Public Perspectives on Aging

KEYWORDS

DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION, COMMUNITY-BASED SUPPORT, SOCIAL SERVICES, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Digital Media

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