Il budget di salute come strumento di attivazione per le persone con disabilità. Il contributo della ricerca partecipata

The proposed paper draws on the experience gained with the project “Social Inclusion and Disability: experimentation paths for the Personal Health Budget” (L-inc) that aims to enhance the direct participation of people with disabilities in the decision-making processes that concern their healthcare. This objective is achieved through the promotion of a more person-centered care and a personalization of the allocation of economic resources, that are designed to meet the health and wellbeing needs and outcomes expressed into individuals’ life projects. In the last decade, the international debate on the ability of social and health services to respond to citizens’ needs has focused on the important role played by those reforms aimed at putting people to the center of public services, thereby promoting a personalization of care. Also in Italy citizens’ participation experiences had self-empowerment as main objective and it has been acknowledged the importance of enabling subjects to have the maximum degree of control about the support they receive in order to enhance citizenship for all. After providing an overview on the evolution of the concept of disability, our paper shall present the tool of the Personal Health Budget, with particular regard to the adopted methodology, namely participatory research.