MEDICAL, SOCIAL OR NEOMEDICAL APPROACH TO THE CARE FOR THE DISABLED

Unatoč tome što socijalni pristup u okviru hrvatske psihosocijalne prakse nije novost, konkretna djelovanja za poboljšanje položaja i poštivanje prava korisnika još su uvijek velikim dijelom u skladu s medicinskim pristupom, barem kada je riječ o osobama s invaliditetom. To ukratko znači da se oko 9,7% stanovnika RH, koliko iznosi udio osoba s invaliditetom, s ovim poteškoćama nosi velikim dijelom na način «osobne tragedije» njih i njihovih obitelji (što je jedno od obilježja medicinskog pristupa), a manje na način sustavnog, usklađenog, suvremenog profesionalnog pristupa u smjeru izjednačavanja mogućnosti za te osobe. S tim u skladu je i činjenica da je svaki novi zakon o socijalnoj skrbi sve restriktivniji, što znači da je sve manji broj onih kojima će pomoć priskrbiti država ukoliko si ne mogu pomoći sami, a da je sve veća odgovornost na pojedincu i njegovoj obitelji. Sadašnji sustav u velikoj se mjeri temelji na "tretmanu pojedinca" bez uvažavanja okruženja u kojem on živi. Stoga je važno temeljiti aktualne promjene u zakonodavstvu na sistemskom, obiteljskom pristupu. Ako očekujemo od obitelji da preuzme sve veću odgovornost za one svoje članove koji iz različitih razloga ne mogu samostalno zadovoljavati sve svoje potrebe, onda je vrijeme da predvidimo sustavno djelovanje socijalne skrbi kao i obiteljski pristup, ne zanemarujući međusobne utjecaje okoline i pojedinca.In spite of the fact that the social approach within the framework of the Croatian psycho-social practice is not a novelty, concrete actions to improve the position of the users and the respect for their rights are still largely in accordance with the medical approach, at least in the case of the disabled. Briefly put, that means that approximately 9.7 percent of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, which is the share of the disabled, mostly handle those difficulties as \u27personal tragedies\u27 suffered by themselves and their families, and less through a systematic, adjusted and modern professional approach aimed at standardization of possibilities for the disabled. The fact that every new law on social welfare is more and more restructive is in accordance with that, which means that the number of those who will be helped by the state, if they are not able to help themselves, is being reduced, and the responsibility placed on the individual and his family is being increased. The contemporary system is largely based on the \u27treatment of the individual\u27, without the recognition of the environment he or she lives in. Therefore, it is important to base the current changes in the legislation on a systematic family approach. If we expect the family to undertake increased responsibility for the family members who cannot satisfy all their needs independently out of various reasons, then it is hight ime to predict a systematic operation of social welfare as a family approach as well, without neglecting the interaction between the individual and his or her environment