I was honoured to have been interviewed for a book on deinstitutionalisation, community-based services and inclusion of people with disabilities.
About the book
“Social services for people with disabilities have undergone substantial changes over time, in particular in the past two decades. Whilst lack of affordable and appropriate housing is a barrier to community living for many people with disabilities, it is only one part of the jigsaw. This book traces some of these changes, in particular related to living situation and support available, in a range of different countries and considers the factors that have influenced these changes. This book considers other aspects of what is needed to bring about real change in the lives of all people with disabilities.”
Šiška, Beadle-Brown: The Development, Conceptualisation and Implementation of Quality in Disability Support Services. Karolinum Press, 2021.
From the introduction
“The aim of this book is to bring together current research and experience related to the process of ensuring that people with disabilities can realise their rights, in particular, to live in the community, with choice over where and with whom they live and with support to experience full participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
“The book will explore three core themes related to achieving positive outcomes for people with disabilities through community living.
- varying trajectories towards community living in different countries, including an analysis of the factors or turning points that have been important in different countries.
- defining, measuring and delivering high quality community based services to ensure that people live better lives in the community than they did in institutions.
- the mechanisms, systems and structures that have and are likely to be important in determining not only whether people move from institutions to live in the community but also whether services are of a high quality.”
About my contribution
Chapter 1.2 Deinstitutionalisation and community living: The past, the present and the future. Julie Beadle-Brown, Milan Šveřepa, Jan Šiška (with contributions from the late Jim Mansell)
“This chapter comprises two interviews. The first one was conducted with the late Professor Jim Mansell at his Festschrift in September 2011 by Nick Gore. Jim was the founder of the Tizard Centre and a pioneer in the development of community-based services in the UK and dedicated most of his career to ensuring that people with intellectual disabilities and their families experienced good lives through good services. (…)
The second interview was conducted in May 2020 with Milan Šveřepa, director of Inclusion Europe. From 2018 to 2020, Milan was co-chair of the EEG. Before becoming director of Inclusion Europe, Milan worked on replacing segregated “care” institutions for people with disabilities with community-based support in the Czechia and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe and has authored many publications related to how social services and social care system should be organised, as well as about the media and public relations for social sector.
In the interview, Milan considers what he thinks has changed and what has not changed in the past ten years, 15 years after the publication of the UNCRPD. He provides an extremely insightful and thought provoking overview of what is needed now to ensure that the reality of community living is achieved for everyone, including those with more severe and complex needs.”
Šiška, Beadle-Brown: The Development, Conceptualisation and Implementation of Quality in Disability Support Services. Karolinum Press, 2021.