From an organisational perspective, important decisions were made
at the level of the Upper Austrian regional government by determining
the pedagogical overall responsibility for all three regional facilities
and seamless leadership and responsibility chains. For the first time,
pedagogical guidelines as guidance will be developed and
implemented for these three facilities.
In the facility itself, a new leadership and staffing culture must be
developed among other measures. It is essential that the measures to
be implemented do not peter out once the project has been
completed. That is why ongoing implementation monitoring is
planned, as well as an evaluation of the entire implementation
process after about three years.
The project results offer the opportunity to tackle comprehensive
improvements. Whether and how the implementation will be
successful will be observed during continued visits by the
commissions.
2.4
Opportunity for
comprehensive
improvements
Project offers an opportunity for fundamental changes in Upper Austria.
Institutions and facilities for persons with disabilities
2.4.1 Introduction
In 2014, the commissions carried out 78 monitoring and control visits in
institutions and facilities created especially for persons with disabilities.
As was the case in the previous year, public and private operators
were monitored and controlled, whereby the range of institutions
included homes, shared accommodations, day care centres, sheltered
workshops and nursing wards. These types of institutions and facilities
are encompassed both by the OPCAT mandate and by the mandate
set out in Section 16 (3) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (CRPD).
The monitoring activities turned out to be very complex due to differing
levels of need, the broad range of offerings and the diversity of the
institutions and organisational forms. At the same time, the
commissions also found qualitative and quantitative deficits with
regard to care, especially for people with double and multiple
diagnoses (learning disability and mental disorder or psychiatric
impairment). Persons with intellectual impairment, who additionally
are experiencing a psychosocial crisis or a mental illness, sometimes
show extremely aggressive behaviour toward themselves or others;
this creates a great deal of stress for themselves, the care staff and
their families. Mentally disabled persons exhibit mental health issues
and classic psychiatric disorders three to four times more frequently
than the average population. This statement by the World Health
Organisation (WHO), is based on the higher degree of vulnerability of
68
Broad range of
offerings, but
nevertheless there are
still deficits in care
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