Care or Personal Assistance around the World Articles

Nej till åldersbegränsningen av mänskliga rättigheter! Ja till personlig assistans efter behov inte ålder!

Dr. Adolf Ratzka.  2014.  Nej till åldersbegränsningen av mänskliga rättigheter! Ja till personlig assistans efter behov inte ålder!. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift. 21(3-4):7.
Swedish
Dagens åldersdiskriminering i personlig assistans är ohållbar i längden. Det är bara en tidsfråga tills Sverige dras inför Europadomstolen för detta. Är det inte hög tid för regeringen att tillsätta en utredning som räknar fram assistansersättningens verkliga nettokostnader för samhället med hänsyn till samtliga omfördelningseffekter? Med resultatet som underlag, kan man sedan föreslå ett regelverk för samfinansiering mellan stat, landsting, kommun och hushåll som möjliggör en assistansersättning efter behov, oavsett ålder, diagnos och minimibehov som hjälper oss att leva och åldras med självbestämmande och värdighet.

What role can Independent Living play in a country in economic crisis?

Dr., Ratzka Adolf;.  2015.  What role can Independent Living play in a country in economic crisis?
English
SYRIZA, the government party in Greece, organized a conference on politics and disability together with the Greek branch of the Independent Living movement in Athens, March 13, 2015. Adolf Ratzka was invited to participate by Skype and talk about the role that Independent Living, especially Personal Assistance, can play in a country in economic crises: benefiting persons with extensive disabilities who today often depend on their families for physical survival and benefiting the national economy by creating employment opportunities and stimulating domestic demand.

Interview with Adolf Ratzka by Christa Hofmann in "Leben ohne Barrieren"

Interview with Adolf Ratzka by Christa Hofmann talking about personal assistance in Sweden. Part of the program "Leben ohne Barrieren" shown on tv.orf.at/weltjournal 2014-12-02. Austrian TV. 

The interview is in german and there are no subtitles.

"Låt hjälpmedelsanvändare själva avgöra sitt eget bästa"

Dr., Ratzka Adolf;.  2015.  "Låt hjälpmedelsanvändare själva avgöra sitt eget bästa".
Swedish

Sjukvård. Många köper sina hjälpmedel själva utanför landstingens system. Har man råd får man större utbud, bättre kvalitet och bemötande. Genom att skapa en ny modell för detta, hämtad från assistansersättningen skulle hjälpmedelsanvändarna få större självbestämmande och högre livskvalitet, oavsett storlek på plånboken.

Publicerad: 11 februari 2015 i dagenssamhalle.se

Remissvar på betänkandet Förändrad assistansersättning – en översyn av ersättningssystemet (SOU 2014:9)

Dr., Ratzka Adolf;.  2014.  Remissvar på betänkandet Förändrad assistansersättning – en översyn av ersättningssystemet (SOU 2014:9).
Swedish

Independent Living Institute är remissinstans till betänkandet (SOU:2014:9).

I utredningen föreslås att nuvarande timschablon för ersättningen för personlig assistans görs om till en grundschablon per timme med i huvudsak samma innehåll som idag men med kraftigt reducerat belopp. Grundschablonen föreslås också täcka kostnader vid ordinarie assistents sjukfrånvaro som hittills bekostades av kommunerna. Utredningen föreslår också en tilläggsschablon som ska kunna beviljas assistansberättigade som har särskilt stort behov av assistans på nätter och helger och som inte fyllt 65 år.

"Personligt om assistans" intervju med Adolf Ratzka av Peter Anderson-Pope för Rekryteringsgruppens tidskrift Kick höst 2013

Anderson-Pope, Peter.  2013.  "Personligt om assistans" intervju med Adolf Ratzka av Peter Anderson-Pope för Rekryteringsgruppens tidskrift Kick höst 2013.
Swedish
Under sin snart tjugoåriga historia har assistansreformen lyckats bli såväl älskad som verktyg för befrielse och avskydd som ett verktyg för brottslig verksamhet. -Men i sin helhet är assistansreformen en succé, säger Adolf Ratzka som visade vägen med ett pilotprojekt på nittonhundraåttiotalet som så småningom ledde fram till reformen. -Det som inte är bra med den är småsaker i sammanhanget.

Working hours for personal assistants in Sweden

Independent Living Institute.  2012.  Working hours for personal assistants in Sweden.
English
Summary of legislation and debate about working hours for personal assistants in Sweden as of February 2011. Issues related to working hours for personal assistants have been discussed from a variety of perspectives at Assistanskoll. One such issue involves the EU directive 2003/88/EC “concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time”, which was adopted in the Swedish Working Hours Act in 2007. The new rules significantly impacted personal assistance services, raising several concerns; for example, the directive would limit the ability of personal assistance users to travel due to the higher requirements for daily rest forcing travellers to have three assistants instead of two, which would make the trip more expensive.

Personal Assistance - a revolution for people with disabilities - Keynote

Westerberg, Bengt.  2013.  Personal Assistance - a revolution for people with disabilities - Keynote.
English
of the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet), describes the Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS), puts it in context with other Swedish legislation, and reflects on its societal costs and benefits. The reform utilizes direct payments for freedom of choice, self-determination and personal responsibility and, in this way, differs from traditional Swedish welfare politics where state agencies typically combine the functions of needs assessment, financing, quality control and service provision. Mr Westerberg, who credits the Swedish Independent Living movement for introducing the concept of direct payments for personal assistance to Sweden, succeeded in getting the legislation approved by Parliament during the country's deep economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990's. In Sweden, his personal pride in the legislation he authored is well-known.

Independent Living-rörelsen banade vägen

Dr. Adolf Ratzka.  2012.  Independent Living-rörelsen banade vägen.
Swedish
Kapitel 2 ur boken: Perspektiv på personlig assistans, Brusén Peter, Flyckt Karin (red.), Gothia Förlag 2012 Adolf Ratzka Välviljans förtryck Socialpolitiken styrs vanligtvis inte av dem vars liv den påverkar, utan av politiker och tjänstemän utifrån politiska hänsynstaganden och en nödvändigtvis begränsad kännedom om andra människors livsvillkor. Det gäller framför allt oss personer med omfattande funktionsnedsättningar som för vår överlevnad är beroende av andra människors praktiska insatser i det dagliga livet, exempelvis med uppstigning, påklädning, toalettbesök, duschning. Ju större vårt beroende är, desto självklarare tar sig omgivningen rätten att ha åsikter om vad vi behöver och desto mindre har vi som berörs att säga till om när det gäller hur vi vill leva våra liv och vilka samhällsinsatser vi behöver. Som resultat ser vi ofta lösningar och tjänster som Resultaten av lösningarna gör oss mer beroende av andra istället för oberoende.

Working and parenting with personal assistance

Tillander, Erik.  2012.  Working and parenting with personal assistance.
English

Summary of legislation, interpretations and other developments as of August 2012

In sweden there is a law that defines the rights people with severe functional impairments have to various fully funded services and benefits, including personal assistance. The law also defines requirements for a  functional impairments to be considered severe. This Law is called "The Law about Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS)" and is the subject of regular review. If you are too old or not sufficiently impaired to qualify for LSS services then you may only be entitled to partially funded services according to another law.

Benefit fraud in relation to personal assistance in Sweden

Tillander, Erik.  2012.  Benefit fraud in relation to personal assistance in Sweden.
English

Summary of legal cases, statistics and media coverage as of November 2012

In early 2010, Halmstad District Court handed down three judgments and several people were sentenced to prison for benefit fraud. These cases involved people pretending to be disabled, as well as other types of crimes, such as tax evasion and fraudulent timesheets that also figured in the subsequent discussion. In 2011 about 20 assistance companies were investigated, and two more people were convicted in February 2012.http://assistanskoll.se/20120209-Dom-mot-agare-till-assistansforetag-i-Halland.html.

Eunice Ya-Yu Kao, Taiwan - "Those who can pay have migrant care workers as assistants"

Westberg, Kenneth.  2012.  Eunice Ya-Yu Kao, Taiwan - "Those who can pay have migrant care workers as assistants".
English
Institution, home care or migrant care workers are the options available for people with disabilities in Taiwan. Migrant care workers come from other Asian countries and work under difficult conditions. Since 2008, however, inspired by Japan, there is one user cooperative with about ten assistance users.

Personal Assistance empowers persons with disabilities and benefits the national economy

Dr. Adolf Ratzka.  2012.  Personal Assistance empowers persons with disabilities and benefits the national economy.
English
Persons with the exactly the same disabilities can have completely different lives depending on where they live. In some countries there are policies and attitudes that allow us to develop and follow our interests, get education and work, meet friends, marry and have children. In other countries, people with disabilities may have to live with their parents or in institutions, with little contact with the outside world, with no or only simple work.

The Independent Living movement paved the way: Origins of personal assistance in Sweden

Dr. Adolf Ratzka.  2012.  The Independent Living movement paved the way: Origins of personal assistance in Sweden. Perspectives on personal assistance.
English
Chapter 2 Perspectives on personal assistance, Brusén Peter, Flyckt Karin (ed.), Gothia Förlag 2012 Adolf Ratzka Benign oppression Social policy is rarely made by the people whose lives it affects. Rather, it is formulated based on political considerations by politicians and bureaucrats who, by necessity, have limited knowledge of the conditions of other people’s lives – especially regarding those of us with extensive disabilities who depend on other people to survive and require practical assistance with activities of daily living such as getting out of bed, dressing, personal hygiene and bathing. The greater our dependence, the more others assume they are entitled to have opinions about our needs and the less those of us affected have a say in how we want to live our lives and what social resources we need. As a result, solutions and services often make us more dependent on others rather than independent.

Personal Assistance and the Crisis: Now is the time to promote Direct Payments for Personal Assistance

Dr. Adolf Ratzka.  2012.  Personal Assistance and the Crisis: Now is the time to promote Direct Payments for Personal Assistance.
English
Presentation for Congress of the European Spinal Cord Injury Federation, Lucignano, Italy 23–25 May 2012 Already before the current crisis people with disabilities fared worse than the general population as measured by most social indicators such as income, employment, housing etc. But now the gap is widening as recent official statistics, for example in Sweden, show.

Independent Living for People with Disabilities of All Ages

Dr. Adolf Ratzka.  2011.  Independent Living for People with Disabilities of All Ages.
English
Given the increasing number of older persons relative to the working age population, record level taxes and baby boomers’ demands for self-determination and quality of life, which changes might the Scandinavian welfare model have to undergo in order to deliver long term care to all who need it? In Sweden, direct payments for personal assistance are paid to mainly younger persons with extensive disabilities. In terms of perceived quality and cost per hour of service, direct payments have been found to be more efficient than traditional local government services. But would this favorable experience hold for all persons in need of assistance with the activities of daily living – regardless of age, diagnosis and minimum needs? What would be such a policy’s cost and effects on the labor market? How could it be financed? Would it threaten younger disabled persons’ relative favorable present situation? Today’s Swedish policy of cash payments for the purchase of personal assistance services might be of interest as a long term care solution for tomorrow’s older persons.

Personal Assistance in Sweden

Westberg, Kenneth, Berg Susanne, Dr. Adolf Ratzka.  2012.  Personal Assistance in Sweden.
English

The Independent Living Institute (ILI, Sweden) Sweden has written this report on Personal Assistance in Sweden for the Expertise Centre Independent Living, Flanders, Belgium.We gave ILI a list containing questions and topics on hot issues in Flanders. What is the legal framework? How does the assessment take place? What is the assistant's statute? What are the experiences with private enterprises? In this report, Kenneth Westberg answers these questions. He has written this report under the guidance of PhD. Adolf Ratzka.PDF

Bente Skansgård, ULOBA, Norway: “Municipal procurement threatens assistance users’ self-determination”

Westberg, Kenneth.  2011.  Bente Skansgård, ULOBA, Norway: “Municipal procurement threatens assistance users’ self-determination”.
English
Municipal contracts should be based on the Norwegian Standard and the basic philosophy of user-controlled personal assistance, with the user as supervisor and the freedom to use assistance hours at any time. The upcoming legislation for user-controlled personal assistance (Brukerstyrt personlig assistanse, BPA) should cover everyone regardless of number of hours needed or diagnosis. These are the demands of Bente Skansgård at ULOBA, Norway’s largest assistance cooperative.

Norway: Personal Assistance heading for legislation?

Westberg, Kenneth.  2011.  Norway: Personal Assistance heading for legislation?
English
Interview with Jan Andersen, Lillehammar University College, Norway on November 17, 2011 Norway is discussing whether or not to pass legislation about user-controlled personal assistance. Researcher Jan Andersen at Lillehammer University College, who has conducted research on user-controlled personal assistance since its inception, sees problems because legislation would only apply to users with more than 20 hours/week. He also comments on the changing assistance market, with the entrance of private companies and municipalities contracting out assistance to keep costs down.

Norway: “The upcoming legislation will be a disappointment”

Westberg, Kenneth.  2011.  Norway: “The upcoming legislation will be a disappointment”.
English
In Norway, JAG Assistanse has four users to date, but after gaining approval as a BPA provider (Brukerstyrt Personlig Assistanse or user-controlled personal assistance) from 15 municipalities, operations manager Sidsel Maxwell Grasli expects strong growth. At the same time, she fears that JAG’s target group will be let down by the upcoming Norwegian legislation for user-controlled personal assistance.

Pages

Subscribe to