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Description
The Disability Without Barriers Foundation supports people with disabilities in the Lodz Province. Our experience shows that existing anti-discrimination measures are not effective and do not fully meet the needs of people with disabilities. Every day we help those people in their contacts with institutions such as public offices, municipal social care centres, communal social care centres, courts and departments issuing disability certificates. One of the causes of institutional discrimination is a lack of knowledge of people with disabilities about their rights. Moreover, laws are unclear, regulations are illegible, and direct contacts with public institutions are very stressful for our charges. The aim of our project is to raise awareness in the society and among decision makers about the lack of access to understandable and practical information on the rights of people with disabilities. As part of the project we will develop educational resources on disability case law and create a concept of sample communication. We will take into consideration the form and language of the message, as well as communication channels adapted to the needs, skills and barriers of people with disabilities. The resources will be evaluated by people with disabilities, employers, the Disabilities Ombudsman in Lodz, and officials, taking into account both factual accuracy and broadly understood accessibility. We will cooperate with a linguists and a communication and marketing specialist to make sure that the materials do not contain any unnecessary jargon, incomprehensible wording, and they are friendly to use. Direct beneficiaries of the project are people with disabilities from the Lodz Province, but we address the project also to caregivers, representatives of local authorities and officials.
Summary of project results
The primary goal of the project was to create space for changes in the creation of communication and procedures used to inform people with disabilities about the rights and opportunities related to their health situation. We started and still assume that we have as many rights as we use, and to be able to use them, we need to have knowledge about them, understand their scope and be able to use them. The project was intended to contribute to counteracting institutional discrimination against people with disabilities, which still exists, among other things, because OzN and their families and loved ones do not know their rights. The laws are unclear, the regulations are illegible, and in direct contacts with public institutions, people with disabilities do not receive support or understandable answers to their questions.
The following activities were carried out as part of the project:
1. Conducting a survey among employers, representatives of NGOS and public entities regarding knowledge of disability certification issues (knowledge of one''s rights, understanding of documentation, effects of the judgment, etc.). During the study, ten group interviews were conducted (5 people in a group of 50 people in total) about the jurisprudence system and the labor market in relation to the needs of people with disabilities.
2. Conducting training for employees of Ms. Office. Łódź, ZUS Łódź branch, MOPS in Łódź. 3 training sessions for 5 people, a total of 15 people took part in the classes
3. Creation of a communication plan regarding case law
4. Creating a guide on disability certification in two language versions: Polish/English
5. Creation of a guide on disability certification in ETR (plain language) intended for people with intellectual disabilities
6. Creation of the foundation''s website and Facebook fanpage
7. Conducting a conference summarizing the project, the guests of which were the director of PFRON Łódź branch, the director of MOPS and the Ombudsman for disabled people from the Łódź City Hall
8. Conducting a project evaluation
Due to the fact that our products are publicly available substantive materials developed as part of the project, such as:
- focus research report, Information on disability certification are documents in three versions, communication plan regarding rights
persons with disabilities related to the assessment of the degree of disability, are available to any interested person on our website
website and available in paper version at the foundation''s office. In our opinion, these materials will be relevant for a long time because unfortunately
legislation and institutional changes in Poland change very slowly.
The lasting result is the training of 15 people in accessibility and communication regarding case law, which increased their knowledge of the needs of people with disabilities and gave them tools and knowledge to better support them on a daily basis. In the case of employers, it contributed to greater openness in employing people with disabilities.
The direct recipients of our project were people with disabilities living in the Łódź Voivodeship.