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Lithuania
QualityRights – Lithuania
In 2017, a National QualityRights Team was established in Lithuania in order to implement the WHO EURO project on adults with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities living in institutions in the European Region . The team members have multidisciplinary competencies and years of experience of human rights advocacy in mental health: Nijole Gostautaite Midttun, psychiatrist, team leader, director at NGO Mental Health Initiative, Dovile Juodkaite, lawyer, president of the Lithuanian Disability Forum, Karile Levickaite, psychologist, director at NGO Mental Health perspectives and Ugne Grigaite, social worker & project manager at the NGO Mental Health Perspectives and Human Rights Monitoring Institute. Activities are undertaken by the team with the endorsement of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Security and Employment.
In addition to the assessment of facilities undertaken as part of the WHO EURO project using the WHO QualityRights toolkit and methodology, the national team received additional QualityRights training on mental health, disability, human rights and recovery in 2018-2019 and has subsequently been delivering this training to other key stakeholders in Lithuania. The QualityRights e-training has also been promoted and disseminated in the country to strengthen capacity among national actors.
Also in 2019, quality improvement interventions have been implemented in order to address the gaps identified in the assessments. National team developed interventions focused on the right to health, recovery, consent to treatment and around strategies for ending coercion such as de-escalation. Feedback has been very positive with clinical staff and administration expressing in particular that they have found trainings and the introduction of personal recovery planning based on people’s personal preferences very useful.
Next steps
- A round table discussion is being organised for end 2019 to discuss the findings of QualityRights assessments and challenges related to the new deinstitutionalization process.
- The national team are discussing with the Lithuanian Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health the potential expansion of QualityRights activities for quality improvement in services.
- Ongoing discussions are underway to use the QualityRights assessment Toolkit as a formal tool for measuring compliance with human rights and quality standards in all services.
- The national team continue to promote the use of the WHO QualityRights training and guidance modules within in health and social sectors.