Quality of Life for All – Erasmus +

Quality of Life for All (QoL4ALL) is an Erasmus + project that aims to improve the education of adults with disabilities through the provision of educational strategies that promote their quality of life. The project aims to improve the skills of adult education professionals working with people with profound and severe disabilities in the promotion of their quality of life.

QoL4ALL will analyse successful practices in the European Union regarding the quality of life of adults with severe and profound disabilities and promote the qualification and professionalism of service providers in the quality of life of these target group. The project will also aim at increasing the offer of intervention programs in adult education in regard to the promotion of their quality of life.

The target groups for this project are: clients, professionals, managers and stakeholders of education centers for adults with severe and profound disabilities or similar organizations; researchers from a research center on education for the quality of life of people with disabilities; persons concerned with the quality of life of people with disabilities; and policy makers.

“Adults with severe disabilities are above all just people like us ”

The consortium of the project is composed by: the European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR), the Cerebral Palsy Portuguese Association of Faro (APPC Faro), Josefsheim gGmbH (Olsberg, Germany), Istituto Don Calabria (Verona, Italy), Centro San Rafael – Fundación San Francisco de Borja (Alicante, Spain).

QoL4All has been developed from the idea that no matter our condition or situation we all have the right to have quality of life. Being aware and respecting the rights and ethical dilemmas of people with severe disabilities is crucial for staff members, carers and family members to contribute to their quality of life.

Given the evolution of the concept of disability over the last decades, based on the principle of inclusive education and with the ratification of the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a new perspective is inherent with this population, implying a greater dignification of their quality of life and a greater commitment to a theoretical / practical framework of reference that is adequate to the fulfillment of the values of citizenship and inclusion of these citizens as full members of the society they live in.

Quality of Life

The concept of quality of life is used universally to evaluate the results of policies, practices and personal evolutions. In 2002, Schalock and Verdugo described quality of life as a desired state of personal well-being that: (a) is multidimensional; (b) has universal properties and properties related to culture; (c) has objective and subjective components; and (d) is influenced by personal characteristics and environmental factors.

Quality of Life for people with severe or profound disability

The education for the quality of life of people with disabilities it’s aimed at focusing on an educational system of multidimensional and multidisciplinary nature that respects diversity, individuality and development, aiming at a culture of cooperation and collaboration problem solving, maximizing the potential of each individual with disability and providing an improvement in the educational response.

People with severe and profound disabilities may have marked limitations in their body functions and structures (by reference to the ICF, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) putting at risk their development, leading them to experience serious difficulties in the process of learning and participation in the various contexts in which they are inserted.

The Project

Project Objectives

The main horizontal objectives of Qol4ALL are social inclusion and adult education. The project aims at improving the skills of adult education professionals working with people with profound and severe disabilities in the promotion of their quality of life.

This project intends to develop an education program to promote the quality of life of adults with severe and profound disabilities, defining strategies to be implemented with these people and their families, as well as identifying areas of training for employees and guidelines of organisational policies and practices. The aim is to improve the quality of the intervention through credible and sustainable practices based on a logical model that aligns the different levels of the systems (micro, meso and macro) and which is based on the most recent international scientific guidelines on quality of life and disability, based on the principles established by international experts on this field.

The priorities of the project at national level are:

• development of teaching / learning resources;
• training of adults, teachers, psychologists and technicians;
• development of tools to disseminate good practices.

Project Meetings

Past Meetings

Project Deliverables:

• Characterisation of the quality of life profile of adults with severe and profound disabilities (quantitative methodology).
• Identification of individual variables, services and community that are predictors of personal quality of life outcomes (quantitative methodology).
• Identification of good practices and successful experiences developed by partner entities in terms of adequacy, quality, force and relevance for improving the quality of life of adults with severe and profound disabilities (case study).
• Design of an education program aimed at professionals working in the field of education of adults with severe and profound disabilities (benchmarking and benchlearning)
• Definition of curricular units and educational strategies to be integrated into the program.
• Definition of measures to be implemented among adults with severe and profound disabilities.
• Definition of strategies aimed at their relatives and informal caregivers.
• Definition of guiding principles, policies and organizational strategies based on a leadership style focused on the quality of life of disabled adults.
• Test the program
• Evaluation of the impact, quality and effectiveness of the program (delphi study).

Intellectual Outputs

• A guide to best practices and successful experiences (case study)

• Education program for the quality of life of adults with severe and profound disabilities

Intellectual Outputs produced by the project

Intellectual Output 1: Quality of Life Assessment Report

Intellectual Output 2: Guidelines for good practices and successful experiences

Intellectual Output 3: Education Program for the quality of life of adults with severe and profound disabilities

Newsletters

Learn more about our project by reading our newsletters!

• QoL4ALL Newsletter#1
• QoL4ALL Newsletter#2

Final Conference Presentations

• QoL4ALL Project Overview by Ana Luísa Sousa, Project Coordinator, APPC Faro
• Assessing the Quality of Life of adults with severe disabilities by Ana Luísa Sousa, Project Coordinator, APPC Faro
• Selecting Good practices and Best Practice in enhancing Quality of Life by Guus van Beek, QoL4ALL Project Consultant, All About Quality Consultancy
• QoL4ALL Educational Program by Martin Künemund, Project Manager, Josefsheim Bigge
• Ethics and Inclusion of People with Disabilities by Ana Carratalá, Director Centro San Rafael

Presentations delivered on the trainings

• Quality of Life Assessment, APPC Faro
• Best Practices and Successful Experiences, APPC Faro
• Between neighbours: community day care service, San Rafael
• Communication and Orientation in the Social environment, Josefsheim Bigge

Contact information

Project Coordinator: Ana Luisa Sousa, APPC, analuisasousa@appc-faro.org.pt