In cooperation with the Ghent University in Flanders the Expertise Centre started an investigation into the quality of life of people working with a personal budget (Persoonlijk Assistentie Budget or PAB). Linde Moonen started on the 1st of October as a researcher on this project from which we expect the results in June 2010.
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Lecture at the ENIL conference

On 14 September 2009 the ENIL (European Network on Independent Living) organized an international conference in Strasbourg about the UN Convention and Independent Livingf. Here you can find the presentation of Jos Huys about direct payments in 8 European countries.
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We are very proud to present you this second edition of the newsletter of the Expertise Centre Independent Living.

The Expertise Centre is a partnership between grassroots organizations working with and for disabled persons (and their representatives) that want to build up expertise about direct payments. The acquired knowledge shall be used for lobby work in Flanders. We want to disseminate information about working with direct payments by means of a website, survey reports and a newsletter.

Through this newsletter we want to inform you about our organization and the progress of the Expertise centre. We email this newsletter to experts in the field of living with a disability, on working with direct payments, the organization of care, the support of and the policy with regard to people with a disability.

In cooperation with the Ghent University in Flanders the Expertise Centre has started an investigation into the quality of life of people working with a personal budget (Persoonlijk Assistentie Budget or PAB). With this budget people can employ their own assistants and decide where, by whom and when they want and need to be assisted with their daily activities.

100 people in Flanders will be questioned within the framework of this investigation. In the coming months the auditors will examine the quality of their life using a new measuring instrument. This measuring instrument is the Personal Outcomes Scale(POS). This POS is an instrument to measure the quality of life through six indicators per domain, and has been developed by Stichting Arduin and the Department of Orthopedagogy of the Ghent University. For the moment the instrument is still being validated and tested in the doctoral thesis of PhD. Claudia Claes of the Hogeschool Ghent.

Given the fact that the Expertise Centre Independent Living attaches much importance to peer-to-peer counselling, a training will be provided for auditors who are peers.

On the 1st of October Linde Moonen has started out as a researcher in this field. Her working place is the Expertise Centre Independent Living but her employer is the Ghent University, department of Orthopedagogy. The investigation was initiated by the Expertise Centre Independent Living, given that the initiation of research on direct payments is part of the Centre’s mission statement. Together with professor Ph.D. Geert Van Hove, Mrs. Claudia Claes (lecturer at Hogeschool Ghent) and Ph.D. Jos van Loon a research project was elaborated and submitted at the NVSG vzw (Nationale Vereniging tot Steun aan Gehandicapten – National Association for the Support of Disabled People) and the Rotary Club of Aalter which will provide the necessary financial means. The goal is to present the research results in June 2010.

This is a continuation of the first investigation of the Expertise Centre Independent Living: "Direct Payments in the Care. Actual situation in 8 European countries". The study showed that Sweden and the Netherlands were particularly interesting countries which may still offer a many new insights for other countries. We have thus started a follow-up study which focuses more on some points of interest in both countries.

This article is on Sweden and starts with an overview of the general Swedish context. Further on important aspects of the Swedish practice of Personal Assistance are being highlighted. The article concludes with questions which we think need to be investigated more thoroughly.
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The Expertise Centre Independent Living is working on a report about market forces in the care.