The Empowerment and Quality of Life Area was launched in 2019 and is linked to the NeuroPsicoSocial Area, closely related to social research programs. The objective of this area is to generate discourse, reflection and knowledge within the framework of the social model of disability, which should allow for the improvement of empowerment work and the impact of the intervention on the quality of life of the patients cared for at the Institut Guttmann and their families.
From this new area, new projects such as the “Accompaniment Plan for Independent Living” and the social research project “Participa” have been promoted, and changes have been implemented in the QVIDLAB project and in the “Hospital social participation and inclusion program”.
The Institut Guttmann has been advancing for years towards a model of social care for disabilities that favors the empowerment and quality of life of people. The “Accompaniment Plan for Independent Living” for example, is an attempt to formalize it within the organization, at a time especially marked by the creation and development of the “Guttmann Barcelona Life” initiative, but also for patients of the Badalona Hospital that they wish, and whose main objective is to promote the independent life model of people with disabilities of neurological origin, and the opportunity to fully incorporate this methodology in the “Strategic Plan 2020 -2025” in order to make it effective for through the new organization for clinics that is being launched.
The mission of the plan is the promotion of the Independent Living philosophy among people with disabilities, their immediate environment and the professionals who work with them, as well as the support of those people who are interested in this life option in its implementation. In this way, you want to promote and consolidate the self-determination paradigm using the person-centered care methodology
Objectives of the Empowerment and Quality of Life Area:
- Promote the empowerment of people by promoting reflection so that they acquire knowledge and become involved in social transformations.
- Promote self-determination, in the sense that people make their decisions based on their values.
- Guide the self-management of support resources for independent living.
- Support people in self-management of personal relationships.
- Promote peer support through Mutual Aid Groups (GAM) and Peer Support Groups to facilitate empowerment.