Collapse before implementation? Personal assistance for persons with disabilities in Poland

In this article, we try to answer the question why users of personal assistance (PA) in Poland did not adhere to the assumed independent living model but they rather used the service differently that deviated from the model and reinvented it for their own purposes.Drawing on the evaluation of a nationwide project which aims to develop and test standards for PA in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), we move on to reflect on the place of PA in Polish social policy. We attempt to answer our question using selected concepts from the theory of diffusion of innovations. We conclude that the reason for the reinvention of PA is its removal from the innovation cluster of UN CRPD and an attempt to integrate it into the existing system which is outdated, underdeveloped and based on paternalistic concept of care.