{"id":3159600,"date":"2021-12-03T09:34:13","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T09:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:08:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:08:53","slug":"my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\nPersonal assistance becomes a permanent service for people with disabilities in Serbia\u2019s Ma\u010dvan district with EU support.\r\n\r\nDragana Markovi\u0107 Mati\u0107\u00a0lives in the town of \u0160abac, in western Serbia\u2019s Ma\u010dvan district. She lives with rheumatoid arthritis, which has led to reduced mobility over time, and the need for support to perform daily activities. \u201cI can&#8217;t function independently, I can&#8217;t move. My movements get more and more limited with age,\u201d she says. The deterioration of her disease brought the need for a regular carer who would assist her most of the day. Family and friends were there to support, but in her words \u201cthis was a full-time job: being my arms and legs\u201d.\r\n\r\nThe need for personal assistance is of course not exclusive to Dragana: other people in \u0160abac with disabilities have a similar problem. Families try to help, but cannot always be there as much as is needed. An alternative solution is to hire a personal assistant, but this is a financial burden that most families cannot really afford. Such personal assistants also need to be professionally trained on moving a person in a wheelchair, transferring them to bed or into a car, as well as helping with dressing and maintaining personal hygiene. \u201cSomeone who has never had contact with disabled people has to be trained in assisting them so as not to inadvertently injure themselves or the person they\u2019re caring for,\u201d says Dragana.\r\n\r\n<h2><strong>\u00a0\u201cThe most important thing was to create a framework for training and train the first people who were interested in providing personal assistance services for people with disabilities.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n<strong>A ten-year journey <\/strong>\n\nDragana is a member of the Ma\u010dvan District Association of Paraplegics, which took the initiative to solve this problem through local institutions a decade ago. Back then, the association managed to include the need for an independent life for disabled people into the \u0160abac social policy strategy. Policymakers\u2019 acknowledgement of disabled people\u2019s needs was an important achievement but as there was no financial or other support, it took almost ten more years of struggle to see a tangible result of the policy.\n\nThe light at the end of the tunnel became visible in 2018 when an EU-funded ReLOaD (Regional Programme on Local Democracy) programme stepped in with support. \u201cThe most important thing was to create a framework for training and train the first people who were interested in providing personal assistance services for people with disabilities,\u201d says Slavi\u0161a Savi\u0107 who heads up the Ma\u010dvan District Association of Paraplegics.\n\nWith the support of the EU, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, the Association identified people who were interested in providing a personal assistance service and trained and licensed them. As part of the same programme they also managed to initiate a pilot support project where five people with disabilities were provided with personal assistance for eight hours a day and four others with four hours a day of support.\r\n\r\n<h2><strong>\u00a0\u201cGetting the cost of personal assistants for people with disabilities included in the municipal budget was a huge leap and great success for us and we could not have done it without the support of the EU-funded ReLOaD programme,\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n<strong>About the programme<\/strong>\n\nThe Regional Programme for Local Democracy in the Western Balkans (ReLOaD) is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United National Development Programme. The programme\u2019s aims include strengthening participatory democracies and EU integration in the Western Balkans by improving the legal, financial and wider environment to empower civil society.\n\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe implementation of the pilot programme gave the association a stronger case to convince the municipal authorities of how crucial the personal assistance service is for people with disabilities. As the result of continuing lobbying efforts, the municipal assembly finally included this support in the list of regular services that the municipality provides. The service is already included in the budget for 2021 and the salaries of personal assistants are now covered, and will be covered in the future, by the municipality.\n\n\u201cGetting the cost of personal assistants for people with disabilities included in the municipal budget was a huge leap and great success for us and we could not have done it without the support of the EU-funded ReLOaD programme,\u201d says Slavi\u0161a.\n\nDragana and other people from \u0160abac living with disabilities feel more relaxed as they have secured a personal assistance service for a lifetime. \u201cThe quality of my life has visibly improved. With a personal assistant, you are independent,\u201d says Dragana.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personal assistance becomes a permanent service for people with disabilities in Serbia\u2019s Ma\u010dvan district with EU support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3159601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":[],"area-of-cooperation":[410,421],"country":[250],"opportunity-type":[],"class_list":["post-3159600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","area-of-cooperation-employment-and-inclusion","area-of-cooperation-healthcare","country-serbia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d - WeBalkans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d - WeBalkans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Personal assistance becomes a permanent service for people with disabilities in Serbia\u2019s Ma\u010dvan district with EU support.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WeBalkans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/webalkans.eu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-03T09:34:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-05T11:08:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-31.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"WeBalkans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@webalkans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@webalkans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"WeBalkans\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"WeBalkans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-03T09:34:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T11:08:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":765,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3-31.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d - WeBalkans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3-31.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-03T09:34:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T11:08:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3-31.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/3-31.jpeg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1430},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"WeBalkans\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Union\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/webalkans.a3ia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/eu_flag.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/webalkans.a3ia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/eu_flag.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":401,\"caption\":\"European Union\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/webalkans.eu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/webalkans\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d\",\"name\":\"WeBalkans\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"WeBalkans\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/author\\\/administratorwebalkans\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d - WeBalkans","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d - WeBalkans","og_description":"Personal assistance becomes a permanent service for people with disabilities in Serbia\u2019s Ma\u010dvan district with EU support.","og_url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/","og_site_name":"WeBalkans","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/webalkans.eu","article_published_time":"2021-12-03T09:34:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-05T11:08:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1430,"url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-31.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"WeBalkans","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@webalkans","twitter_site":"@webalkans","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"WeBalkans","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/"},"author":{"name":"WeBalkans","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d"},"headline":"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d","datePublished":"2021-12-03T09:34:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T11:08:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/"},"wordCount":765,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-31.jpeg","articleSection":["Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/","name":"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d - WeBalkans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-31.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-12-03T09:34:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T11:08:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-31.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-31.jpeg","width":1080,"height":1430},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/my-quality-of-life-has-visibly-improved\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cMy quality of life has visibly improved\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/","name":"WeBalkans","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#organization","name":"European Union","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/webalkans.a3ia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/eu_flag.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/webalkans.a3ia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/eu_flag.jpg","width":600,"height":401,"caption":"European Union"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/webalkans.eu","https:\/\/x.com\/webalkans"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d","name":"WeBalkans","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"WeBalkans"},"url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/author\/administratorwebalkans\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3159600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3159600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3159600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3159761,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3159600\/revisions\/3159761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3159601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3159600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3159600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3159600"},{"taxonomy":"area-of-cooperation","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-of-cooperation?post=3159600"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=3159600"},{"taxonomy":"opportunity-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opportunity-type?post=3159600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}