One of our organisation's values is empowerment. By choosing this value as one of our core values, we discussed why it is important for us, as employees providing social services to residents of the institution with mild and severe disabilities, to empower the recipients of our services and what we specifically do to put this value into practice.

              While implementing EQUASS (the European Quality in Social Services system), we developed and approved the Resident Empowerment Concept. What is this concept about and why is it necessary?  

              The development of the empowerment concept itself was important so that we could all have a common understanding of the definition of resident empowerment, the empowerment process, the creation of an empowering environment, and the evaluation of empowerment outcomes.

In our organisation, Resident Empowerment means increasing a person's confidence to act and take control of their own life by ensuring a positive environment that promotes independence and provides physical, emotional and informational support.

              In empowerment, it is important to pay attention to the balance of power. Through empowerment, we increase the resident's power and reduce the power of employees when providing services, while at the same time encouraging the resident to take responsibility for their own life.

In the empowerment process, the relationship between the resident and the employee is equal and based on cooperation.

In the empowerment process, the resident is always consulted, and their opinion is sought on all matters related to their life. If the resident is unable to express their opinion, the opinion of their relatives / family members / employees is sought.

The organisation seeks to empower residents by creating an appropriate environment. A distinction is made between the physical, emotional and informational environment, which should have characteristics that promote empowerment. Empowerment is necessary:

A physical environment that is:

• comfortable and safe;
• adapted to the individual's needs;
• provides opportunities to arrange their room according to their own preferences;
• provides access to communication tools (telephone, computer);
• allows residents to choose who they live with;

An emotional environment where:

• there is a positive psychological climate;
• ▪relationships between residents and employees are based on trust;
• ▪ residents have the opportunity to be active and flfil their potential;
• personal dignity, opinions and decisions are respected;
• residents are helped to discover their strengths;
• the focus is on opportunities rather than difficulties;
• communication is respectful;
• empathy is encouraged
• there is openness;
• information is provided;
• rights are respected;
• help is always available.

An informational environment where:

• opportunities are provided to receive information in an understandable format;
• documents are supplemented with visualisations;
• signs / visualisations help residents navigate their environment;
• information about services is available on a website adapted for people with disabilities.

We have also identified characteristics that indicate that empowerment is taking place. Empowerment occurs when residents are involved in the service delivery process from the beginning and participate in all stages (planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation), develop their work and independent living skills, make use of opportunities to help themselves and others. Empowerment takes place when employees involve residents / their relatives in the service delivery process from the beginning (planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation), focus on residents' needs, encourage residents to take initiative, maintain relationships with other people, trust themselves and their abilities, and provide / help them find the necessary resources.

Residents are empowered in the areas of social, daily living, work and leisure skills and assess their achievements after each task using pictures, while the results are summarised once a year.

                      The organisation's employees shared their practical experience of empowerment and how it is applied.

Social worker Aušra Žukauskienė: “I believe that empowerment is implemented very intensively in our organisation. Currently, 12 service recipients are being empowered in Building I, and they are doing very well. Service recipients are empowered according to their level of ability. For example, if we see that a service recipient is unable to wash their room independently, we do not empower them to do so. The organisation places great emphasis on ensuring that residents first feel well both physically and emotionally, and only then, as much as possible, involving the service recipient and their relatives, we try to empower the person as much as possible so that they become less dependent on employees, acquire new skills that give the service recipient a sense of self-confidence and independence. When empowering service recipients, we place great emphasis on mutual trust and continuous communication between both employees and service recipients. Achieving empowerment outcomes may sometimes be unsuccessful for a variety of reasons, for example, due to changes in the service recipient's health condition or fluctuations in their emotional state, if the service recipient suddenly no longer wishes to be empowered in the area they had previously chosen...

At present, I feel that I have sufficient knowledge about empowering service recipients, but I am always interested in learning something new. Sometimes it is very useful to refresh one's knowledge, and we can gain many valuable insights by cooperating with various organisations that are also interested in empowering their clients. We also learn from colleagues working abroad, attend professional development activities and share good practices.

Observed results:

Resident A is a particularly capable service recipient who is very good at learning new things. While one year the goal was to empower them to neatly put dishes into the dishwasher and switch it on, this year the aim is for them to independently change the bed linen, and once they have acquired this skill, to help other service recipients do the same. We have also noticed that successfully achieving a set goal becomes a kind of attraction for service recipients, as they can reward themselves with smiley faces on the results measurement chart.

Social worker Aurika Lazdauskienė: “Individual and group empowerment can be distinguished. Individual empowerment means that each person, taking into account their abilities, is offered one task or another: one person may wipe the dust in their room, another water the flowers, another wash the dishes, sweep the yard, etc. By allowing each person to do something, even if they can only perform a small and simple task independently, they gain a great sense of joy, develop self-confidence and abilities, feel more independent, become less dependent on those around them, and are able to take at least partial care of themselves and their environment. During group empowerment, when everyone works together on certain tasks, for example, tidying their personal or common areas or taking part in creative or work activities, a sense of community is created. Even the greatest sceptics, not wanting to be different from others, especially when encouraged by other residents and seeing their example, gradually become involved in activities and later join the work process willingly. At that point, they no longer need to be told what work they should do – they choose the appropriate activity themselves. What matters to them is not only the result of the work, but also the work process itself, which strengthens unity, friendship, a sense of community and of being one family, because everyone feels responsible not only for themselves but also for their friend. Since the vast majority of our residents learn about the outside world only through materials and activities presented by employees, we try to introduce them to as many different activities, trips, educational and creative activities, food products and other goods as possible, so that residents can choose what they like, what they would like to do, where they would like to go, what places they would like to visit, what they would like to eat or purchase, and so on. Various tools are used for this purpose: stories, visual materials, the internet, etc. The more knowledge residents have about the world around them and the various opportunities available, the more actively they can express their wishes and needs. In this way, they feel safer, more independent and more dignified, while also developing mutual trust and respect and a sense of equal communication with employees.”

Acting Head of Department Anželika Žolnerukaitė: “Instead of giving a person a fish, you should give them a fishing rod” – this idea is what I associate most strongly with empowerment and its concept. People who come to live in the ‘Savi namai’ Independent Living Home for persons with mental disabilities are usually those who, throughout their lives, have been given that ‘fish’, i.e. provided with short-term services that met their basic physiological needs but did not contribute in any way to their personal development or improve their quality of life in the long term. Upon arriving at ‘Savi namai’, a person initially always expects someone else to do something for them or make a decision on one matter or another. It is during this period that the ‘fishing rod’ is first ‘handed’ to them, and the first social worker is introduced. When a person does not receive what they expect, their first reaction is often anger, because they believe that the social worker MUST and is even OBLIGED to do things ‘for them’. These are the first reactions we encounter, because such perceptions have been shaped by the person's previous experiences. Gradually, by providing the person with comprehensive support and services and demonstrating that the power to make decisions lies in their own hands, that they themselves are responsible for their own life, their attitude and understanding begin to change. The person is involved in all matters concerning them. At the same time, it is important not to wait for someone else to make decisions for them. The person themselves wants to make decisions and wants to take responsibility for themselves. Empowerment is about giving a person a fishing rod and teaching them how to use it so that they can catch the biggest possible fish, i.e. so that they can understand and be able to make decisions that lead to a better quality of life. This is exactly what the ‘Savi namai’ team follows in its work.”

When residents are asked, they all say that employees HELP (represent them, act as intermediaries, etc.), and no one says that employees DO THINGS FOR THEM. In my opinion, this is the greatest result, showing that empowerment is taking place and is successful.”

Social work assistant Renata Kozlovskė: “The most important thing is not the great achievements of others, but the small things you achieve yourself” (Japanese writer Haruki Murakami). Perhaps this phrase best describes an employee’s role in the empowerment process – when a service recipient, with less knowledge, perhaps sometimes slower, perhaps with many questions and doubts or, on the contrary, with spontaneous decisions and confidence, performs a task, chooses the most appropriate solution themselves and takes pride in their achievements. Perhaps the most meaningful response is the service recipient’s sincere joy, satisfaction and pride in themselves for having overcome, managed, done, completed, thought of or suggested something... And for us, the employees, this is empowerment.

In the empowerment process, employees are the main sources of support, advisers, supporters, encouragers and motivators. By empowering service recipients, employees become the first people who always praise, thank, celebrate with and encourage residents, which is very important to them. At the same time, a positive emotional environment for empowerment is created, which also positively affects the residents’ emotional well-being.

The best results in empowering a resident are achieved when the resident themselves wants the change and understands its importance. The greatest obstacles to empowering a person are severe intellectual or complex disabilities, rapid ageing accompanied by sudden dementia, or simple human laziness. We cannot change the first two, but we can try to influence laziness. And we are doing quite well. We have a great team with highly competent abilities, where everyone works individually, but at the same time we work together towards one goal – to develop and maintain acquired skills and, in this way, preserve a person’s independence in everyday life and in the community.”

Social work assistant Žygimantas Matusevičius: “Speaking about Building I, where I work, I can say that residents are empowered. When I started working at this organisation, I received advice from both the head of the department and the employees on how to act independently, how to do something yourself, but always stay nearby, help, advise and encourage when necessary, etc. I try to follow this principle in my direct work with residents. I admit that, as time goes by, empowering residents is becoming increasingly difficult. Due to age, illnesses and other reasons, residents find it very difficult to learn new skills, while some naturally lose the skills they already have. I also encounter a lack of motivation and emotional disposition among residents. Sometimes a lack of personal knowledge can also create difficulties in implementing the concept of empowerment. However, I can be pleased that there are some good examples. I am happy to see when a resident independently washes their cup after using it, places an uneaten sandwich in the refrigerator, sometimes vacuums their room, arranges their books or calls their mother. Of course, I have to stay nearby because the resident asks me to watch, sometimes to help if necessary, advise and reassure them so that they do not lose their willingness and motivation. I am happy when a resident, after being reminded at least before going to bed, undresses independently and places their clothes on a chair. When reminded, the men take dirty clothes to the laundry basket. A resident asks to be taught how to find their favourite music on the internet. When reminded and asked, residents clean not only their own rooms but also common areas. I try to remind residents every day to take their dishes to the dining area and place their chairs neatly, etc.

I can contribute only a little to creating the physical empowerment environment, so the main focus of my work is on creating the emotional and, partly, informational empowerment environment. I support residents emotionally, advise them, encourage them, praise them when necessary, explain things, help them and so on.”  

Social work assistant Martynas Labuckas: “I believe that empowerment in our organisation is progressing smoothly. Residents who can be empowered in one way or another genuinely express a desire to be empowered. Employees always take into account the resident’s wish to contribute to household tasks carried out in the organisation. I will give a few examples. A resident who works in our workshops always helps with household chores. Wherever she has been and whatever she has been doing, she comes to the kitchen to help, as she sees it as her duty and responsibility to put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher and always helps to load dirty dishes and add detergent. The resident always takes great care of the plants around the organisation. When planting pine trees, we discussed it with her and decided together how we would plant them. She helped water them and, before I went on holiday, promised to take care of them and water them. Thinking back to the beginning of the quarantine, she would get up in the mornings and rush to disinfect all surfaces, thus ensuring cleanliness and preventing the virus from entering our home. Resident K., who is very eager to contribute to keeping his room tidy, always takes the initiative to help his roommates make their beds and get dressed. In our building, all residents contribute to the empowerment process or do so to a lesser extent. Since residents want to be empowered and show great willingness, but after work a warm cup of tea or coffee always gives us more energy to continue working, doesn’t it? They have sufficient knowledge and skills, but additional knowledge and new ideas are always useful.”

Direktoriaus pavaduotoja socialiniams reikalams

Virginija Paulauskytė

Last updated: 2020-10-14