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| Expertise Centre Independent Living – August 2010 |
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Preface In this newsletter we look back with satisfaction at the international conference of 3 and 4 June. More than fifty people from ten different countries were present, all of which were disabled people and their representatives. Two days we exchanged ideas on Independent Living through Direct Payments. Afterwards, we worked on reports of the speeches and lectures, so that everybody can dispose freely of excellent notes on what was said. Unfortunately, we were not unable to transcribe all the interesting conversations during the breaks, the exciting encounters and the nice weather. We hope all this literature makes for a nice chunk of holiday reading. We wish everybody an enjoyable summer holiday. In September we continue our work with renewed energy and enter a new phase with the Expertise Centre. Elke Decruynaere Report on the International Conference 3 - 4 June In collaboration with the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), the Expertise Centre Independent Living, organized a 2-day international conference called ‘Independent Living through direct payments’ on the 3rd and 4th of June in Gent (Belgium).
The international conference was attended by fifty-three persons with a disability and/or persons working for organizations that represent persons with a disability. Twenty-four of them were international guests from countries like Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Latvia, England, France, the Netherlands. Twenty-nine people were from Belgium. There were also thirty-six personal assistants present (19 international people and 17 from Belgium). The official language of the conference (the speeches, discussions and workshops) was English. A simultaneous translation into Dutch during the conference was also available. The materials provided were both in English and in Dutch. The conference was evaluated by means of an evaluation form.
The First Day (3rd of June 2010) On the first day, Viviane Sorée, Jamie Bolling and Chris Robbroeckx delivered their speeches. Viviane Sorée, the chairwoman of the Flemish budget holders association BOL-BUDIV and of the PGB (personal budget scheme) expert committee that follows up the PGB-experiment in Flanders (2008-2010), officially opened the international conference.
Chris Robbroeckx, a board member of BOL-BUDIV and the Expertise Centre, spoke about the Expertise Centre Independent living – its history, common vision, the research already done and the work that is yet to come. Unfortunately, Adolf Ratzka was unable to come and give his speech on the Independent Living philosophy. However, Jamie Bolling did an amazing job taking the stage instead of Mr. Ratzka. Therefore we are very grateful! After the presentations it was time for the panel discussion - ‘Direct payments in Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden’ with Lies van de Loo from ‘Per Saldo’ (the largest budget holders association in the Netherlands), Jos Huys (lawyer and researcher, one of the founding fathers of the Independent Living movement in Flanders, Belgium), and Davy Gaeremynck (from Independent Living Institute, Sweden).
- Summarized transcript of the conclusions of the workshops, 3 June.
The Second Day (4th of June 2010) During the second day of the international conference the following speakers presented their speeches: Linde Moonen (a researcher associated with the University of Ghent), Anja De Greve (a researcher associated with the University of Brussels), and Peter Lambreghts (a staff worker at the Expertise Centre Independent Living). Linde Moonen, along with Anja De Greve, presented a research which she conducted on Quality of Life and Personal Assistance Budget (PAB) in Flanders. The findings of this research sparked a discussion among the conference participants and speakers. The following questions were discussed in group: What research is beneficial? What must be researched? What kind of scientific studies do we need or should we need? - PowerPoint presentation by Linde Moonen and Anja De Greve Peter Lambreghts gave an interesting economic perspective on direct payments in his presentation, titled ‘Is working with Direct Payments less expensive?’. He also spoke about market forces in the care in ‘As a consumer on a care market’. - PowerPoint presentation by Peter Lambreghts The second day of the international conference was also completed with three workshops in which the participants were discussing the evolution of care/support supplier in different countries. The topics of the workshops were: ‘the co-existence of Direct Payments and care in kind’, ‘Personal assistants and quality standards’ and ‘How do we deal with commercialization?’. - Summarized transcript of the conclusions of the workshops, 4 June
- PowerPoint presentation by Viviane Sorée
It was in many ways a successful conference with a diverse programme. The programme took into account both the theoretical aspects (speeches and presentations) as well as the practical issues (discussions and workshops). The goals of the conference were achieved: a variety of international and Belgian guests with a disability was reached, well-prepared research and presentations were shared and most important - there were great opportunities for international networking, debating and exchanging expertise and experiences! |
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Copyright © Expertise Centre Independent Living 2010 • www.independentliving.be |
The power of direct payments lies in the fact that disabled people are granted a budget so that they are able to organize their support independently of others. The Expertise Centre Independent Living has been doing a lot of research on this topic. In 2010, the second anniversary of the Expertise Centre was celebrated. Therefore, this was the right time to share the results of all the hard work that had been done. The main goal of the conference was exchanging experiences of working with direct payments in different countries and building an international network of people who are interested in Independent Living through direct payments.
Jamie Bolling, the Executive Director of ENIL, gave an interesting overview of the European Network on Independent Living, its structure, main goals, challenges and hopes for the future.
The first day was closed by three workshops on ‘How does this work in your country?’ with following subjects: ‘Legal basis and enforceability of support’, ‘Development of the Independent Living movement in your country’ and ‘Support in working with direct payments’.
The conference ended with Viviane Sorée taking the stage and summarizing the participants expectations about the future goals of the Independent Living Movement and the Expertise Centre Independent Living. The challenges and pitfalls facing the movement and the Expertise Centre were overviewed. The list, of course, was not absolute and complete. That is why the offer for cooperation, sharing ideas, comments and staying in contact was made.
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