We are pleased to announce the publication of EASPD’s Collection of Promising Practices on Legal Capacity and Supported Decision-Making for People with Disabilities, complementing our Position Paper on Legal Capacity and supported Decision-Making published in 2023. 

This report features contributions from various EASPD members and non-members, providing inspiring examples of how supported decision-making can be effectively put into practice. The collection highlights a diverse range of approaches, both direct and indirect, to support people with disabilities in exercising their legal capacity. 

• Person-centred planning: These practices ensure that people with disabilities are at the heart of the planning of their life and are allowed to take decisions based on their personal preferences and aspirations, all while receiving tailored support to help them do so. 

• Raising awareness and trainings for service providers and professionals: These practices focus on increasing understanding of what supported decision-making entails, providing professionals with the necessary tools and methods to effectively implement it in their work. 

• Empowerment through training and awareness for people with disabilities: These practices aim to empower individuals with disabilities through training and awareness activities, helping them to understand their rights, express their wishes, and actively participate in decisions that affect their lives. 

• Raising awareness in society: These practices support a broader cultural shift towards empowerment, engaging society as a whole to support the inclusion and legal capacity of people with disabilities. 

This collection of good practices provides service providers with practical tools that can be used to improve the support they offer to people in making their own choices. However, the publication also serves as an advocacy tool, as the examples we have gathered can inspire service providers and policy makers at the national level. Supported decision-making can foster the transition away from outdated substitute decision-making, towards a future where people with disabilities can fully exercise their right to autonomy, self-determination, and social inclusion.  

Finally, this publication contributes to policymaking at the European level. The importance of supported decision-making is reflected in the European Commission’s recent Guidance on Independent Living, which is a key enabling condition for independent living and an integral part of the deinstitutionalisation process. As part of its European Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Commission has expressed interest in compiling a collection of good practices on supported decision-making, and we hope that our work will represent a significant contribution. 

Read the full report here.