Disability Support Services, Benefits, and Care Facilities

Benefits, Services, and Equipment for Persons with Disabilities

The development of measures for the welfare of the disabled has established benefits, services, and equipment in several areas: prevention of disability, rehabilitation, education, workplace integration, social security, and accessibility to physical and socio-economic benefits.

Social Services Area

In this area, disabled individuals have access to primary and specialized facilities and services. Primary services include counseling, information, and home help, specifically through family counseling, guidance, and information services.

The goal of the family counseling service is to inform families and provide them with training to care for their disabled family members. The information service facilitates knowledge of available benefits and services and the conditions for accessing them.

Access to the welfare system occurs through guidance, grading, and assessment centers, where professional teams provide evaluation and guidance. These teams, composed of a doctor, a psychologist, and a social worker, assess and establish the degree of disability based on criteria set by the MLSA. These centers also offer therapeutic intervention, including early care, physiotherapy, speech therapy, psychomotor therapy, and outpatient psychotherapy.

These centers provide a basis for personalized intervention routes, offering specific therapeutic and occupational rehabilitation equipment.

Residential and Day Care Options

Depending on the degree and type of disability, the following facilities are available:

• Day care centers for the mentally disabled or psychosocial rehabilitation centers that develop community support programs.
• Residential centers for the disabled, categorized by:
  • Residences for people with profound and severe mental deficiency.
  • Residences for those with less severe conditions.
  • Supervised apartments for individuals who can develop greater autonomy.
  • Residences for the physically disabled who require dependent care.
• IMSERSO CAMF centers: Intended for comprehensive care for individuals with difficult recovery, severe workplace integration challenges, or those unable to be cared for in a family or home setting.

Regarding residential care, the Office of the Ombudsman issued a report in 1996. After assessing a large sample of residential centers, the report expressed the need to legislate on aspects involving restrictions or deprivation of personal liberty or other fundamental rights, such as admissions, outings, visits, and the use of isolation rooms.

Recreation and Leisure

The adaptation of LISMI provides facilities for the development of recreation and leisure for disabled people, offering services and activities suitable for severe cases of disability.