Institutional care for disabled people in Europe continues to fall short of acceptable standards in many cases, confirmed a new report released by the European Commission. It recommends a wider use of quality, community-based services, which offer better quality of life to people with disabilities, without necessarily costing more.

To obtain a better overview of the situation and help find solutions, the European Commission financed a study on the development of services in the community for people with disabilities in Europe. The study - ‘Deinstitutionalisation and Community Living – Outcomes and Costs’ – was carried out by the University of Kent (Tizard Centre) and the London School of Economics.

It confirms that institutional care is often of unacceptably poor quality. Indeed, sometimes the conditions in institutional care may represent serious breaches of internationally accepted human rights standards, as witnessed by recent media reports (for example, about Bulgaria). Community-based services, when properly established and managed, can deliver better outcomes in terms of quality of life and ensure that disabled people can live as full citizens. Services in the community are not more expensive than institutional care once the needs of residents and quality of care are taken into account in calculating the costs.

The European Social Fund (ESF) is one tool the EU uses to help improve the life of disabled people. Among other things, the ESF supports projects to promote independent living, in particular community-based services for people with disabilities near their place of residence, including rural areas (for example through modernising systems and mechanisms especially staff training). It also supports replacement of existing closed institutions with quality services and housing within local communities (so-called 'de-institutionalisation').

More information
‘Deinstitutionalisation and Community Living – Outcomes and Costs’ – text of the report can be found here.