From citizen to patient: the influence of personal assistance on disability rights in Sweden experienced by responsible officials

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Personal assistance (PA) in Sweden, regulated by the Act concerning support and service for persons with certain functional impairments, aligns with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This paper explores the facilitators and barriers impacting the access to PA in Sweden. A thematic analysis of 15 interviews was conducted with public officials at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, who develop and manage the PA-allowance granting process. A medicalised application of this granting process was revealed due to external and internal factors, i.e. legal changes in the Act, caselaw, PA service marketisation, shifting policy priorities, and inadequate monitoring of PA, a high complexity of the PA-allowance granting process and organizational pressure on the officials. A medicalised policy application of the PA-allowance granting criteria risks undermining disability rights policy goals. The paper emphasizes the importance of follow-ups to maintain calibration and understanding of policy outcomes over time.