Collecting evidence on national policies and practices

We were also interested in the extent to which support for independent living in European countries matched up to the requirements of the UN Convention (e.g. in relation to Article 19).

Independent living is a very broad theme. Our main focus was on the kinds of support that are provided to help disabled people live in the community and to exercise choice and control over their daily lives. We were particularly interested in reporting on existing programmes, related economic issues such as personal budgets and other financial instruments. We were also interested in the issue of service provision and its related quality. Furthermore, attention was needed to the issue of legal capacity and in practical supports to exercise it.

The following questions were addressed in the country reports:

• What is the legal and policy framework for providing support for independent living in your country?
• What progress has been made from institutional to independent community living in your country?
• What kinds of support for independent living are available to disabled people in your country? (e.g. for people with different kinds of impairments, of different ages, living in different areas)
• How do people get access to this support and what barriers exist? (e.g. what are the administrative processes and criteria for deciding who gets support)?
• What level of support is available and what are the limitations (e.g. financial limits, limits on the resources available, eligibility of different groups of people)?
• Who benefits from the support that is available (e.g. how many people, in which groups, etc.)?
• What is the evidence from research and evaluation in your country (e.g. what studies have been done, what is the evidence of outcomes, costs or benefits, are there examples good practice, or useful lessons for other countries?)