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Do personal assistance activities promote participation in society for persons with disabilities in Sweden? A five-year longitudinal study

VON GRANITZ, Heléne
SONNANDER, Karin
REINE, Ieva
WINBLAD, Ulrika
2021

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Purpose: To explore whether the personal assistance (PA) activities provided by the Swedish Act concern- ing Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairment in 2010 and 2015 promote par- ticipation in society according to Article 19 of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

 

Methods: Register data and data from two questionnaires were used (N1⁄42565). Descriptive statistics and chi-square (McNemar’s test) were used to describe the basic features of the data. Mixed binominal logistic regression was used to examine correlation between gender and hours of PA between 2010 and 2015.

 

Results: Despite an increase in the number of PA hours, more care activities and a reduction of most PA activities representing an active life were found. The result was especially evident for women, older peo- ple, and for a particular person category.


Conclusions: The results offer evidence of a shift to a medical model and indicate a risk of social exclu- sion due to fewer activities representing an active life. An increase on average of 16h of PA over the period studied does not guarantee access to an active life and may indicate a marginal utility. The noted decline of PA for participation in society enhances the importance of monitoring content aspects to fulfil Article 19 of the UNCRPD.

Nationwide implementation of a national policy for evidence-based rehabilitation with focus on facilitating return to work: a survey of perceived use, facilitators, and barriers

BJORK BRAMBERG, Elisabeth
JENSEN, Irene
KWAK, Lydia
October 2018

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Aim: The aim is to assess whether the national policy for evidence-based rehabilitation with a focus on facilitating return-to-work is being implemented in health-care units in Sweden and which factors influence its implementation.

 

Methods: A survey design was used to investigate the implementation. Data were collected at county council management level (process leaders) and clinical level (clinicians in primary and secondary care) using web surveys. Data were analyzed using SPSS, presented as descriptive statistics.

 

Results: The response rate among the process leaders was 88% (n = 30). Twenty-eight percent reported that they had already introduced workplace interventions. A majority of the county councils’ process leaders responded that the national policy was not clearly defined. The response rate among clinicians was 72% (n = 580). Few clinicians working with patients with common mental disorders or musculoskeletal disorders responded that they were in contact with a patient’s employer, the occupational health services or the employment office (9–18%). Nearly, all clinicians responded that they often/always discuss work-related problems with their patients.

 

Conclusions: The policy had been implemented or was to be implemented before the end of 2015. Lack of clearly stated goals, training, and guidelines were, however, barriers to implementation.

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