The 2022 edition of the EASPD Innovation Awards is focused on the quality of services and is linked to our October 2022 Malta conference on the same topic. Monitoring and improving the quality of services is a dynamic activity which encourages constructive reflection and creative thinking, both of which are necessary for innovation. Measuring the quality of services for persons with disabilities is a challenging mission for most service providers. The challenges arise not only from the lack of a mutually agreed definition of what quality is, but also of how it can be measured efficiently, and further help services improve.

Despite these challenges, there seems to be a general interest, also at EU level, to improve the quality of services and quality assessment processes.

In keeping with the theme of our conference, these submissions have focused on efforts designed by our members to improve quality of services, and thereby, the quality of life of persons with disabilities.

These practices help inspire support services to implement modern quality measurement models focusing on improving the quality of life of the people they support. They further showcase how such models can help service providers move forward towards better quality, empowering and person-centred forms of support, aligned with the UN CRPD principles.

The 5 winning practices have been selected according to the following criteria:

• The practice assesses/measures the quality of the services in a continuous manner
• The practice involves the beneficiaries of the service (persons with disabilities, their families) and/or staff in this process
• The practice and the findings of these processes are used to improve the quality of the service
• The practice is innovative in the local/regional/national context
• The practice is an active and on-going practice
• The practice has positive prospects for future activity, sustainability and scaling-up.

These criteria reflect EASPD’s focus on practices that are innovative, user-centred, sustainable, and adaptable, with the view of both rewarding such efforts, and encouraging other organisations to develop similar approaches.

Report

Authors

Renaud Scheuer, Head of Knowledge and Innovation, EASPD 

Nina Kozlowitz, Research, Knowledge & Innovation Assistant, EASPD

Citation

EASPD (2022). Quality of Life & Support Services: From Words to Action.

Date

Brussels, October 2022.