Purpose

The purpose of the project is to develop a model of rehabilitation for socially weak young people with a reduced physical level of functional capacity.

Many young people with physical disabilities find it difficult to move away from their parents. As they have grown older, they have become more and more dependent on their parents and personal helpers. Many of them have lost contact with their friends. The need for help and support is evident for young people with various kinds of physical disabilities. ForSpring is targeted at "the whole human being" - both in the young people’s daily lives at home and in their social and working life. It starts from each individual’s need for an effort, and is targeted at the development of the competences, that is necessary to live an independent life based on the young peoples own wishes and possibilities. A number of co-workers are employed in the project. They are responsible for the development of the methodical efforts, and they are also carrying out the project itself.  A group of young people with a reduced functional capacity participate in the project. ForSpring collaborates extensively with local authorities, different handicap organizations as well as public and private institutions.

 

Content/target group

In ForSpring we work with six different focus areas - participation in a sense of a community; a consciousness of various places to live and various possibilities of employment; a consciousness of the possibilities for practical personal help; insight to ways of support and how to manage ones own economy and experience in participating in existing social and cultural arrangements for young people. The experiences from working with the young people in the project will play a key role in the development of the model of rehabilitation. The methods in the project focus on participation. It’s a prolonged effort, and working in multidisciplinary teams is essential. We work individually as well as in groups.

The model of rehabilitation is directed towards public and private institutions that work with young people with reduced functional capacity and their families.

The target group in the project is young people between 18 and 25 years with a considerable and permanent reduced functional capacity. They are socially weak, and they don’t match the communicative expectations of young people of the same age. They are determined to make an effort in order to create a change. They need help and support in their work towards the goals, that in general is about being able to deal with an independent adult life, and they have personal help to their disposal to a degree, that allow them to participate in the project. On average they are attached to the project for 18 months.

During the project we develop and work with various methods in order to assess the participants’ level of capacity and resources.

An evaluation containing the results of the aspects of participation as well as the professional and organizational aspects will be worked out at the end of the project.

 

Duration

ForSpring takes place from January 2001 to December 2004

Funding

ForSpring is funded from the Ministry of Social Affairs - Satsreguleringspuljen.

Contact

Ann-Lisbeth Højberg, The Rehabilitation Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases ...