From the Logic of the Institution to Independent Living: Towards a Phenomenology of Care

Abstract

Leg. Dec. No. 62/2024 establishes the regulatory framework that redefines the comprehensive approach to disability through the centrality of the Individual, Personalized, and Participatory Life Plan. Drawing on the pilot program in Piemonte (2025-2026), it is believed that the Life Plan can translate into the creation of a new vision of care centered on the right to citizenship and the self-determination of individuals experiencing vulnerability. This proposal builds upon the Psychiatric Reform Movement (Law 180/1978) championed by Franco Basaglia and his team, drawing on the philosophical merits of a movement that established Italy as a global model of care (WHO 2004). To move beyond a care model based on mere welfare provision and clinical rationalism, we propose a revision of the theoretical approach currently to a vision of care trajectories person-centered, marking the transition from the construct of disability to that of Vulnerability as a social category and political paradigm.