With the so-called supplementary care benefit, people with severe physical disabilities can be supported by a personal assistant in Vienna. The basic idea is self-determination. People with disabilities should act for their own needs and decide who will assist them and when. This form of support applies to all areas of daily life, such as household chores, personal hygiene, health maintenance, work, mobility and leisure time.
Inclusion: Help through personal assistance
Gregor Steininger’s motor skills are restricted due to a disability. His personal assistant helps him with difficult everyday activities.
participation in social life
Although the United Nations treaty has been in force in Austria since 2008, stating that everyone must have the same opportunities, people with disabilities are excluded in many situations. The personal assistant provides support, for example, if the supermarket shelves are too high or the express train is not barrier-free. The Viennese Gregor Steininger hired a personal assistant in order to be able to take part in social life.
According to Steininger, personal assistance can compensate for the lack of accessibility and give him a fulfilling life. “I mightn’t do my job as a peer advisor if I didn’t have a personal assistant,” said Steininger in the “Vienna Today” interview. His assistant Bernhard Bergler helps him in everyday office life with operating the printer, fetching folders and punching pages.
Close employment relationship without a petitioner function
Bergler studied social pedagogy, is employed by the WAG assistance cooperative and through his work tries to improve equal opportunities in the job market. Personal assistants do what customers ask them to do. Steininger’s assistant also accompanies him during his leisure activities and when he travels. “My assistant lends me his arms and legs, but that shouldn’t put me in a supplicant role,” Steininger said.
For Steininger it is important to regard the relationship between customer and assistant as an employment relationship. “We don’t meet outside of office hours and I only develop a friendly relationship when the employment relationship comes to an end,” explained Steininger. It is regarding a close employment relationship, whereby the self-determined way of life and a harmonious togetherness are in the foreground.
Nursing allowance supplementary benefit only from level three
Jasna Puskaric, head of the WAG assistance cooperative, criticizes the fact that some people are excluded from the entitlement to the supplementary care allowance. This can only be requested under certain conditions. The persons must not be under the age of 18, must live in a private household and must belong to care allowance level three or higher. “However, there are many people who would need support even without a nursing allowance level or with levels one and two,” says Pukaric.
This also means that people with a sensory disability, learning disability or mental disability are excluded from the supplementary care allowance, explained Puskaric. The assistance cooperative is committed to making personal assistance accessible to all people with disabilities.
More assistants wanted
The WAG assistance cooperative has a high demand for personal assistants and is looking for people who would like to work in the social sector. No special training is required for this. “In principle, anyone who has the ability to empathize can do personal assistance,” says Pukaric. You will be trained by the customer on the individual needs.