Copy
View this email in your browser

 

Rights in Care Newsletter:
Issue 1

 
You don't stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.
 
- George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright
Welcome to the first newsletter of ENNHRI's Human Rights of Older Persons and Long-term Care Project! 

Running until June 2017, the overarching aim of the Project is to improve the human rights protection of older persons in long-term care, with particular emphasis on residential care. 

The Project has three main phases:
  1.  Desk-based research 
  2. Monitoring of the human rights situation of older persons in long-term care in six representative EU Member States (Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania) by a representative pilot group of ENNHRI members;  
  3. Awareness-raising of a human rights-based approach to care.
Click here for an overview of the Project. 

Latest Developments
What are Human Rights? 

Human rights reflect the minimum standards necessary for people to live with dignity. All humans share the same rights, regardless of their nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. 

Human rights in Europe are protected through a number of international and regional binding human rights treaties. The Council of Europe’s European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a key human rights treaty in Europe, as it has been incorporated into the domestic legislation of all member states. Click here for more info! 
Human Rights relevant to Long-term Care 

The first stage of the Project identified the human rights standards relevant to older persons in long-term care to guide the pilot monitoring group. Click here to see the 17 rights identified through an analysis of the relevant binding United Nations, Council of Europe and European Union conventions. 
Pilot Monitoring Work

A pilot monitoring group made up of six ENNHRI members are monitoring the human rights of older persons in long-term care within their jurisdictions in order to provide insights into the human rights situation in long-term care throughout Europe. 
 
So far, the group have carried out in-depth inspection visits to 17 care homes, conducted interviews with government officials and reviewed relevant legislation within their jurisdictions to see how well human rights are included in the planning and organization of the sector at national/regional level. The findings emerging so far are similar to previous investigations carried out by ENNHRI members - most care providers have an overall high standard of care, although several human rights issues arose, particularly around the tension between ensuring individuals’ safety and protecting their autonomy, as well as shortcomings in the physical environment which can hinder the enjoyment of human rights.

Results of the pilot monitoring work will be available from early summer 2016. 

Useful Information
Promoting the Human Rights of Older Persons: Other News
 
Older Persons Monitoring Project: National Human Rights Commission of Korea

The NHRCK recently shared details of an innovative project with ENNHRI to help protect and promote the human rights of older persons in Korea - a monitoring initative, in which 60 older persons (aged 60+) were recruited to initiate monitoring activities relevant to older persons. Volunteers are selected on the basis of an essay they must write on human rights and an application form.

For more details on the initiative, click here, or contact Mr. Gwangjin Shim, Deputy Director NHRCK, goodday@humanrights.go.kr. 

European Research Centre issues a Policy Brief on De-Institutionalisation in Long-term Care

The European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, Vienna, has issued a policy brief on reducing the use of residential care to care for older people in Europe. The 14-page brief highlights the benefits of community-based care over institutional care and outlines common barriers to deinstitutionalisation. Access the report here.

Upcoming Events and Publications
Presentation to the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity (17th February)
  • Side event at the CRPD Committee’s next session in Geneva (8th April) which will focus on the relevance of Article 19 for older persons. 

Click here for a summary of recent news and events. 
Copyright © ENNHRI 2016, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
info@ennhri.org

ENNHRI's Human Rights of Older Persons and Long-term Care is funded by a grant from the European Commission (DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion). 
All photos courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.