The case in summary Ragnhild Anita G. Bjørklund, who has cerebral palsy, depends on help to get out, but has not received support contact from Larvik municipality since January. She has decided on six hours of support contact per week. The municipal manager in Larvik, Guro Winsvold, apologizes for the situation and says that they are working on several measures to recruit support contacts. Bjørklund previously received a user-controlled personal assistant (BPA) 24 hours a week in Oslo, but Larvik municipality rejected the application for BPA when she moved there. The municipality has had to cut benefits and salaries for support contacts as a result of poor municipal finances. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It doesn’t take much. I want to get out and experience something other than writing or watching Facebook and Netflix, says Ragnhild Anita Bjørklund. She has cerebral palsy (CP) which leads to involuntary movements and poor fine motor skills. Therefore, she needs help to steer the wheelchair to get out. Ragnhild likes to go out for a walk in Bøkeskogen or to a café. Silje Østby Thune, who was previously Ragnhild’s user-controlled personal assistant, thinks it’s sad to see her stay inside. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Ragnhild loves going to cafes, cultural events and shopping. When she lived in Oslo until 2020, she received a user-controlled personal assistant (BPA) 24 hours a week. But in Larvik, the municipality refused the application for BPA, because they thought her need was not great enough. Ragnhild has cerebral palsy, and needs help when she has to move outside. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Instead, the municipality decided on support contact six hours a week. Ragnhild has appreciated that she can at least come out twice a week. But in January the support contact had to end due to health reasons. Since then, the municipality has not been able to find a replacement. Ragnhild Anita G. Bjørklund likes to write and has published six books, two poetry collections and two novels. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Now she only gets out if she gets help from friends or family. – It’s too bad. It’s just like they don’t care, she says. Going on top of each other Her husband, Geir Arne, has a muscle disease himself, and also needs a lot of help. – We are at the mercy of visits from friends and family to get out, he says. The married couple say that it has been demanding when the two of them just sit inside the apartment. – We feel like we spend a lot of time together, and that makes us very tired. It can lead to a lot of anger because we get frustrated. We want to do a bit each for ourselves and get out a bit, says Geir Arne. Ragnhild and Geir Arne got married 23 years ago. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news He says that Ragnhild is bubbly when she comes home from a cultural experience. – I think that’s nice. Then she is in a good mood and doesn’t have to think about CP all the time, says the husband. The municipality apologizes Municipal manager for health and coping in Larvik, Guro Winsvold, regrets that Ragnhild has not received support contact since January. – We are very sorry that we have not been able to recruit for her decision. We apologize for that. We have worked on several measures to get hold of support contacts, but it is a problem to get hold of, she says. Guro Winsvold, municipal manager for health and coping in Larvik municipality. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Since before the summer, the municipality has tried other ways to recruit support contacts internally. Now the municipal manager believes that the matter will be resolved quickly. – We think we are about to succeed, and that she will receive a positive response from us within a few days, says Winsvold. – Why hasn’t the municipality managed it earlier if you are now able to solve this within a few days? – We have had several rounds and tried and tried to find support contacts. It is difficult, and it is only regrettable that it has taken time. It’s not because we haven’t tried. Now we hope that it will loosen, she says. She explains that the municipality has had to cut benefits and salaries for support contacts as a result of poor municipal finances. – Sad to see Silje Østby Thune was BPA for Ragnhild when they both lived in Oslo. Silje Østby Thune was the user-controlled personal assistant for Ragnhild when they both lived in Oslo. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news She finds it frustrating to see that Ragnhild and her husband are not allowed to go out. – It’s sad to see that you don’t get to decide anything in your everyday life yourself. When she is already down for six hours, and doesn’t even get it, it should have been a higher priority, she says. She also lives in Larvik, and now works as a teacher. The offer in Oslo with a user-controlled personal assistant meant that Ragnhild could have a different life, she says. – Then it was Ragnhild who got to decide whether we should shop, hang up clothes, wash the bathroom, cook or go to a centre. Such things we take for granted. They don’t get to choose, but there they got to choose a little, she says. Ragnhild Anita G. Bjørklund on a trip with her husband, Geir Arne, and Silje Østby Thune who was BPA for Ragnhild when they lived in Oslo and received this offer. Photo: PRIVATE Published 01.08.2024, at 06.43
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Ragnhild will not come out because the municipality is unable to find a support contact – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
