Supported Decision-Making Service

Supported Decision-Making Service for Persons with Disabilities | Service Model

The Human Rights Center for People with Disabilitis

The study identified that the only element supporters had difficulty dealing with was functional

fluctuation on the part of the participant, for instance, due to an episode of mental illness. It

seems that the model has to be adapted to suit this characteristic as well.

Three types of changes that occurred among interviewees and can be attributed to the supported

decision making process were identified:

Internal changes

– Including improvement in various stages of the decision making processes

(awareness and understanding of the decision-making process, decision making skills,

ability to execute decisions), development of self-advocacy abilities, and improvement in

money management (desire to manage the money independently, more careful, less wasteful

management, increased motivation to save for the future.)

Changes related to guardianship

– for six of the participants, procedures were launched for

the removal of the guardian. At the time of writing this report, two of the procedures have

been completed. With other interviewees, changes were detected in the relationship with their

guardians that reflected a desire for more independence on their part in making decisions in

various areas of their lives and a stronger insistence on their opinions vis-à-vis their guardians.

Changes related to the participant’s contact with external actors:

The pilot provided the

participants with an opportunity to actualize ambitions or test the limits of their abilities without

judgmental outside intervention vis-à-vis external actors: in making purchases, volunteering,

procuring services, exhausting rights and more. The supporters’ support contributed to the

success of these experiences. The experiences themselves, and the sense of the success they

provided had a positive effect on the participants’ self-confidence and understanding of their

abilities.

Beyond the results among pilot participants, interviews with guardians who were family members

indicated that the pilot contributed to them as well (particularly meetings with the pilot director

and the meetings with the other families) in a number of ways:

Better understanding and formation of a clearer concept about what their role is in advancing

the family member with a disability,

Knowledge and tools as to how to steer the participant toward more independent decision

making.

Information regarding a variety of possible solutions that can meet the needs and wants of the

family member who has a disability.

It appears that the work conducted with the guardians during the pilot identified and responded to

their genuine need.