Tiltai

There is a wide range of rehabilitation programmes for the blind and visually impaired in Western countries, but these vary greatly in content and application, and no single ‘gold standard’ has been established, despite attempts to set such standards. In Lithuania, the policy for rehabilitation services for the blind and visually impaired began to be implemented in 2017. A qualitative research approach was chosen to determine the need for services and project activities for the blind and visually impaired, and to identify implementation shortcomings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five blind or visually impaired people and four of their family members. The results of the research revealed that the blind and visually impaired faced complex psychological and social problems before participating in the social rehabilitation programme for the blind. It was found that there is a lack of coordination in the transmission of information between health-care institutions, municipal social institutions and NGOs. Patients are forced to seek information on their own, which reduces accessibility, acceptability, and the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions. Many of the research participants received services quite late, and, according to the informants, the social rehabilitation programme for the blind had quality shortcomings.

meeting their needs is the social services. Individuals with psycho-social disabilities still experience social exclusion and a lack of services. The prevailing system of social services in Lithuania is more general, and less focused on the individual needs of a person with a disability. In order to ensure the functioning of a person with a psycho-social disability in public life, changes in the provision of social services are necessary. An important aspect is inter-institutional cooperation at all levels. In Lithuania, local government is responsible for the provision of social services. In this article, we analyse the accessibility of social services for people with psycho-social disabilities based on a case study. The results of the research reveal the availability and functioning of help for people with psycho-social disabilities in community life. The practical significance of the study is useful for improving the accessibility of services for people with psycho-social disabilities in the context of social inclusion in the community.

The aim of this study was to describe family social work through analyzing the roles of social workers. Qualitative research was carried out in three big cities of Lithuania: Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 family social workers. A discursive psychology approach was chosen. Family social workers’ interpretative roles repertoires appear among professional, public and organizational discourses. The results showed that family social workers categorise professional roles in relation to different everyday practices that depend on situated language use in the contexts in which they take place.