Is the choice between living at your parents’ or in a big institution really a viable choice? Do any of these options promote the individual’s independence and empowerment? Does it create more cohesive communities?

There is only one answer to these questions – NO. The way we want to care for people with disabilities, mental health problems, and dependent older people or children without a home has been changing. Local public social services are moving from providing places in large residential institutions to supporting community-based services.

Community-based services (hereafter community care) refer to services that are arranged or provided by the local authority’s social services department for people who - due to age, a disability or a mental illness - have care needs. These services help the users carry on living in their homes and keep as much independence as possible.

This important shift ‘Towards Community Care’ was the focus of the ESN seminar in Warsaw, 8-9 May 2009, during which over 50 participants from 20 European countries took part in debates over two days about the transition from institutions to community living.

Invited by the Veneto Region, the DCC group also met in Venice on 25-26 March to discuss the progress made in closing down psychiatric hospitals and assess the challenges stemming from it. The Veneto, a leading region in this process, organised a visit to community and semi-residential services in Treviso, where group members engaged in discussions with local social and mental health directors while visiting the facilities.