Supported Decision-Making Service

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Supported Decision-Making Service for Persons with Disabilities | Service Model
The Human Rights Center for People with Disabilitis
Throughout the stages listed above, the person and the supporter are required to make decisions
about the level of support, namely, how intensive and how active it is. In this context, several
scenarios are possible – the person wishes to act independently despite the supporter’s opinion
that they will not be able to succeed alone or the person requests more intensive support than the
supporter thinks they need. As part of the effort to avoid paternalism, there needs to be dialogue
between the person and the supporter, acknowledging that asking for help and support is natural
and legitimate, as is the desire to try to proceed independently. The person and the supporter
should decide whether the support will be given mainly in the form of consultation and behind-
the-scenes assistance (for instance, by providing assistance with writing a letter or understanding
information), or whether it also requires the supporter's presence and involvement in the different
decision-making stages vis-à-vis the different figures in the person's life (for instance, taking part
in meetings or telephone conversations, escorting the person to National Insurance Institution
appointments, conducting joint conversations with the parents).
Summary of the support outline
The combination of the area of support, stages of support and level of support creates the supported
decision-making outline, as demonstrated below through the different processes that took place
in the pilot:
Example 1: ► area: property – drawing up a will
► stage: all stages
► level of support: medium
A pilot participant expressed a clear desire to draw up a will. The issue in question was how to
pursue this and how to obtain legal aid for this purpose. The process began with exploring the
wishes and understanding the available options – drawing up a will independently or approaching
legal aid to obtain the services of a lawyer who would assist to draw up the will. After a decision
was made to proceed with the second option, we broke down the execution into different stages:
obtaining a psychiatric certificate concerning the participant's capacity to draw up a will, contacting
legal aid and completing forms to secure representation. The participant did not require much help
vis-à-vis the psychiatrist but needed mediation in her communications with legal aid.
Example 2: ► area: living accommodations
– moving into independent living accommodations
► stage: implementation
► level of support: medium
Level of support 3