Ebba Olsson, Inclusion Europe research assistant, writes about Europe in Action 2026 conference:
“Deinstitutionalisation is a big word for many things,” said Milan Šveřepa in the Europe in Action workshop on deinstitutionalisation.
So… what does it really mean?
For one thing, deinstitutionalisation means closing institutions. Institutions are places where people live separated from everyday life and the community. Institutions take away people’s control over their own lives.
But deinstitutionalisation is about more than closing these buildings.
It’s all about people.
People working together to make sure everyone can live in the community.
One dimension of it was illustrated by presentations by Katarina Mauch and Rasa Genienė.
Katarina Mauch spoke about Slovenia, where multidisciplinary teams support people to leave institutions.
These are teams of professionals and peer supporters who work with people living in institutions. Together, they plan the move into the community and the support needed in everyday life.
The peer supporters play an important role, as they are people who lived in institutions themselves. They bring experience that cannot be learned just by going to a training or reading a document.
Being creative to reach people in institutions
The teams have a lot of work ahead of them because many people still live in institutions in Slovenia. Reaching people inside institutions is not always easy.
“The teams have to be very creative on how to make contact with people who live institutions,” Katarina Mauch said. “Some decided just to go and wander around the institution ‘accidentally’ and meet people.”
It made me think about how this kind of work, ‘wandering around accidentally and meet people’, would never be spelled out in a policy document on deinstitutionalisation.
But it is exactly this work that makes change possible.
People building connections, solving problems, working together
Rasa Genienė talked about her experience in Lithuania: What they are trying to do before someone enters an institution.
She explained that many people with intellectual disabilities and their families do not receive support early enough.
Getting support early prevents institutionalisation and avoids its long-term impact on people’s lives.
That is why a model of ‘case managers’ is now being used in Lithuania.
Case managers work directly with people with intellectual disabilities and families, helping them understand what support exists and how to access it.
They also connect different services, so people are not left to navigate the system alone.
“We go out, we knock on doors,” Rasa Genienė explained about how the case managers work. “Lithuania is not a big country and municipalities are small, so we can do this. People and families talk to each other about the case management model, and more and more people get involved.”
Again, it made me think about how all this comes down to people working together.
After the workshop, I spoke with Rasa and two case managers. What stood out most was how much their work relies on building trust.
People need someone who reaches out, listens, and stays with them. This kind of support makes people trust that they can stay in their communities.
Building relationships builds choice and control
Leaving the workshop on deinstitutionalisation, what did I learn from Slovenia and Lithuania?
That changing buildings is visible and measurable.
That building relationships and support takes more time (and some creativity!).
But it is working together and building relationships that people gain real choice and control in their lives.