On October 19, at Jurdaičiai Social Care Home specialists of the Human Rights Division of the Seimas Ombudspersons’ Office held a training for employees of social care institutions in the region, where they talked about the challenges that arise in social care institutions to ensure living conditions based on human rights standards. Moreover, the attention was paid to the importance of the role of care home specialists in supporting and promoting the maintenance and development of independence skills of residents of the institutions and their preparation for life in the community.
At the beginning of the training, the head of the Human Rights Division Vytautas Valentinavičius thanked the director of Jurdaičiai Social Care Home Adelė Pociuvienė for her cooperation in organising the training, as well as for constructive approach to the recommendations made by the Seimas Ombudsperson and prompt efforts to implement them.
Afterwards, Gabrielė Marija Baltrušytė, the project manager and lawyer of the organization Mental Health Perspectives, as well as an expert of an “easy-to-read” language made a presentation Using an Easy-to-Read Language when Providing Information to the Residents of Social Care Homes and explained the staff of care homes about the relevance and importance of accessibility of information, levels of an easy-to-read language, necessary participants in the process of creating an easy-to-read text, distinguished the most relevant categories of information for the target audience, shared practical guidelines for preparation of an easy-to-read language, and together with the training participants analysed and made examples of the possible applicability of information.
Encouraging employees of the social care institutions to think about human rights in their daily work, Fausta Viktorija Osičnaitė, advisor of the Human Rights Division, presented a care model designed for social care home residents based on human rights principles and international standards, and discussed important issues of the daily introspection.
Further, the head of the Human Rights Division spoke about the challenges that arise in social care institutions while ensuring the living conditions of the residents and discussed the importance of the residents’ right to privacy and issues of employment and empowerment.
Greta Bylaitė, chief specialist of the Human Rights Division, spoke about the importance of promoting empathy and creating a non-discriminatory environment in social care homes, harm of unreflective stereotypes, promotion of respect for diversity in the institution, and practical ways of creating a safe emotional and psychological environment, as well as ensuring accessibility of the physical environment.
By analysing everyday situations, advisor of the Human Rights Division Goda Jurevičiūtė together with participants of the training and other specialists of the Human Rights Division discussed the importance of involving residents in decision-making processes, promoting and supporting their independence skills.
The training organised by the Human Rights Division of the Seimas Ombudspersons’ Office Human Rights-Based Supervision of Persons in Social Care Institutions: Standards, Challenges, Practice for the employees of social care institutions is a continuous activity that aims to contribute to increasing the competencies of employees working in social care homes.
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