Prelims

Half Title Page

Disability Welfare Policy in Europe

Title Page

Disability Welfare Policy in Europe: Cognitive Disability and the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Edited By

Angela Genova

University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy

Alice Scavarda

University of Torino, Italy

And

Maria Świątkiewicz-Mośny

Jagiellonian University, Poland

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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First edition 2023

Editorial matter and selection © 2023 Angela Genova, Alice Scavarda and Maria Świątkiewicz-Mośny.

Individual chapters © 2023 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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ISBN: 978-1-80382-820-6 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80382-819-0 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80382-821-3 (Epub)

About the Contributors

László Bercse is the Vice-President of Inclusion Europe and Chair of the European Platform of Self-Advocates (EPSA) since June 2019. He is from the disability organisation ÉFOÉSZ in Hungary. László's work as EPSA chair is to make sure that all people with intellectual disabilities can live independently, learn and work together with other people, vote and end guardianship. The goal is that countries support people with intellectual disabilities better, so they can be members of their community like everyone else.

Ángela Sánchez Castillo attends Fundación Gil Gayarre and works at the office for Lost and Found of the bus company Avanza. She is a representative of the Women with Intellectual Disabilities group at the Women's Observatory. She has experience conducting satisfaction and evaluation surveys.

María Gómez-Carrillo de Castro studied Law and Political Sciences. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Social Policy on Human Rights Based Participatory Research Methodologies at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas da Universidade de Lisboa. She has experience delivering training on rights to persons with disabilities.

Angela Genova is tenure track Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy. Her main research interests concern social and health policy in comparative perspective. She has recently edited with Jonathan Gabe and Mario Cardano the book Health and Illness in Neoliberal Era in Europe, Emerald (2021). Her relevant international publications include Social-Health Operators as Mediators in E-Health System in Professions & Professionalism (2022); Barriers in Inclusive Education in Greece, Spain and Lithuania: Results from an Emancipatory Disability Research in Disability & Society (2015).

Anjali Ghosh is currently working as a Co-course leader, module leader and Lecturer for the BSc (Hons) in Bio-medical Science at the University of Westminster, London UK. She holds a PhD in Applied Sciences awarded from the Institute of Engineering and Technology, University of Lucknow, India. She has received her master's in Biomedical Science from the University of Surrey, preceded by an MSc in Biotechnology from IVRI, India. Since 2010, she has worked as a Lecturer and Researcher in London, UK. Her academic interests focus mainly on sociology of health, health promotion and public health. Anjali is an author of five articles published in international peer-reviewed journals.

Adrián Corona de la Iglesia has participated in a university course at UNED on Gender Violence and subsequently became an activist against gender violence. He is part of a self-advocate group, where they learn and discuss new issues. He attends Asociación Rudolf Steiner, a family-based organisation.

Tímea Galacné Kaló is associated with the University of Szeged, Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, Institute of Applied Health Sciences and Environmental Education; MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group, Hungary. She obtained her degree as an English Language Teacher at the Faculty of Juhász Gyula Teacher Training College in 1995, obtained her degree of postgraduate specialist training course in Economy in 2000 and subsequently graduated as a Health Sciences Teacher at the Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, University of Szeged in 2009, and then as a Special Needs Educator in 2020. Since December 2004, she has been working as a Chief Assistant at the Institute. She took part in Erasmus+ staff exchange programmes in Turku (Finland), Liverpool (Great Britain) and Lisbon (Portugal). She is a member of the Health Promotion Workgroup within the Szeged Branch of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Medical Committee, the EMPATHY Mental Health Promotion Association and the MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group.

Aina A. Kane is lecturing and supervising in legal aspects within MA and BA Child Welfare and Social Work. Her research interest addresses legal framework in welfare service, particularly child protection services, social services and work inclusion. This entails how such a framework is understood and applied by service providers within different fields of welfare services, where also Human Rights can be challenged.

Eleni Koutsogeorgou is currently working as a Lecturer and Programme Manager for the BSc (Hons) Health and Social Care at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David's London campus. She holds a PhD in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research awarded from the University of Milan and the University of Turin. She has received her MA in European Health Promotion from the University of Brighton, and graduated in Sociology from the University of the Aegean. Since 2006, she has worked as a lecturer and researcher across Italy, Greece, and the UK. Her academic interests focus mainly on sociology of health, health promotion, public health, disability, social inclusion and ageing. Eleni is an author of 16 articles published in international peer-reviewed journals and two book chapters. Eleni is the author of the book Social Relationships and Social Participation of Women with Disability published in 2020 by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Veronika Mátó is associated with the University of Szeged, Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, Institute of Applied Health Sciences and Environmental Education; MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group, Hungary. She is a Master's Teacher at the Institute. In 2002 she graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences as a Secondary School Teacher of Biology, and in 2003 she graduated from the Juhász Gyula Teacher Training College as a Teacher of Health Sciences. Currently, she is a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Interdisciplinary Medicine, ‘Preventive Medicine’ programme. She focuses on the psychosocial work environment risk factors among employees of the University of Szeged. She is a member of the Health Promotion and the Sport Sciences Workgroups within the Szeged Branch of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Medical Committee, the MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group; the National Association of Public Health Training and Research Centres, and Secretary of the EMPATHY Mental Health Promotion Association.

Line Melbøe is lecturing and supervising in different aspects of Disability Studies within BA in Social Education and MA in Welfare Change. Her research focuses mainly on disability and citizenship, addressing the possibility for participation for example in education, work, leisure activities and democratic processes. In addition, her research addresses intersectionality, with special focus on the situation of indigenous people with disabilities.

Víctor Sanz Moreno is a representative of the association Cirvite. He has delivered talks on self-representation of people with intellectual disabilities in Spain and promotes the rights of persons with disabilities. He is also trained as an easy-to-read text validator.

Natalia Ożegalska-Łukasik is a Research and Teaching Assistant at the Institute of Intercultural Studies of the Jagiellonian University. She graduated in Cultural Studies with a specialisation in the East Asia and Sociology at the Jagiellonian University. She studied Chinese as part of government scholarships at the Beijing Foreign Studies University and Central China Normal University. As a doctoral student, she received a scholarship under the SYLFF programme at the Australian National University. The area of her research interests includes, in particular, the transformation of Chinese society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as well as the issues of health and education.

Paola Cauja Pilataxi is a representative of the day-care centre Las Victorias (Afanias) and a self-advocate, which is very important to her. She is an easy-to-read text validator and has given many talks to raise awareness and advocate for rights of persons with disabilities.

Helen Portal is the Advocacy and Policy Officer at Inclusion Europe. After Law Studies in International and European Law in France, Ireland and Germany, her voluntary work led her to work at the French Defender of Rights and the French Council of People with Disabilities' rights for European and international questions on the alternative reports of the Convention on the Rights of People with disabilities.

Dóra Katalin Prievara is associated with the University of Szeged, Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, Institute of Applied Health Sciences and Environmental Education; MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group, Hungary. She works in the Institute as a Lecturer and Erasmus+ Coordinator. She is a member of the Faculty's Committee of International Affairs and Secretary of the Faculty's Committee of Education and Accreditation. She graduated in Psychology from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Szeged in 2013. In 2018 she received her PhD in Education summa cum laude. Her main research interests include problematic internet use, online aggression and prevention, and the development of conscious internet use. Memberships include MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group, National Association of Public Health Training and Research Institutes; Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Committee on Psychology; Health Promotion and Sport Sciences Workgroups within the Szeged Branch of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Medical Committee; and EMPATHY Mental Health Promotion Association.

Anna Prokop-Dorner is a Medical Sociologist and Psychologist. She is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Medical Sociology of the Jagiellonian University Medical College in Krakow, Poland. Her scientific interests include, among others, the application of qualitative methodology in the field of health and food studies. She has been involved in national and international research projects on stigma of mental health, health literacy, cultural determinants of health behaviours and nutritional practices. Results of her research have been disseminated in numerous journals in the fields of social and health sciences.

Marta Sancho Suils is part of two self-advocate groups, one specifically for women, run by Taller San Rafael (Asociación Rudolf Steiner). She is focused on gender issues. She is also a representative within her association and is trained as an easy-to-read text validator.

Alice Scavarda is a Research Fellow at the University of Torino, Italy. Her main research interests are Disability, Vaccines, Mental Health and Addiction. She has written two books on disability, one about cognitive disability and stigma, the other one about learning disability and academic inclusion. Her latest publication on the topic of Disability is the following: Scavarda, A., & Cascio, M. A. (2022). Embracing and rejecting the medicalization of autism in Italy. Social Science & Medicine, 294, 114728.

Milan Šveřepa is Director of Inclusion Europe. Before he came to Inclusion Europe, Milan worked on replacing segregated ‘care’ institutions for people with disabilities with community-based support in Czechia and in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. His work on deinstitutionalisation was recognised as Project of the year and Project Manager of the year 2013 in Czechia. Milan has also experience teaching and writing about deinstitutionalisation, and about public relations in social services.

Maria Świątkiewicz-Mośny is a Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Her research interests include health, illness and medicine related topics, for example, health literacy, disability and vaccine hesitancy discourses. She has written two books about identity: the first one (‘Tożsamość napiętnowana’ [Spoiled Identity], NOMOS, 2010) about the mechanism of stigmatisation and auto-stigmatisation of women with Turner Syndrome, and the second about the construction of identity in the era of globalisation (WUJ 2015). She has published her research in both international journals (Sociology of Health and Illness, Health Policy, Social Theory and Health) and national ones. Currently, she is focussing on health capital and health literacy issues in the context of the COVID pandemic.

Klára Tarkó is associated with the University of Szeged, Juhász Gyula Faculty of Education, Institute of Applied Health Sciences and Environmental Education; MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group, Hungary, College Professor, Head of Institute, Head of the Department of Health Sociology and Lifestyle, and Vice-Dean for Education and Innovation at the Faculty (2020-2025). She received her Secondary School Teacher of Physics and English degree at the József Attila University of Szeged in 1995, and in 2007 she received her master's degree in Sociology from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She obtained her PhD in Education Sciences in 2000. She habilitated in 2014. Her main research fields are the unequal health opportunities of minorities and healthy lifestyle. She is President of the Health Promotion Workgroup within the Szeged Branch of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Medical Committee. She is Supervisor at the Doctoral School of Education at the University of Szeged. She is Head of the MTA-SZTE Health Promotion Research Group.

Gema Alises Urda is part of Cirvite, where she works two days a week at reception. She has done internships at schools and at a ministry. She enjoys working in research, and wants to see more research projects, especially in gender violence.

Adela Palazuelos Velayos is a self-advocate from Madrid, Spain, and she is a representative of people with intellectual disabilities of Afanias, a family-based organisation. She is an easy-to-read text validator and has given many talks to raise awareness and claim for rights and against bullying.

Acknowledgements

Editors would like to thank the European Sociological Association, Research Network 16, Sociology of Health and Illness for the fruitful context for scientific debate and learning processes. A special thanks to Jonathan Gabe, Guido Giarelli and Mario Cardano for their support.