Chiara recognises emergencies in advance, brings medication or the telephone
Jasmin P. is partially paralysed due to a genetic defect and also had an accident in 2018 in which she was seriously injured. As a paraclimber, however, she has won almost everything there is to win. She is world runner-up, European champion and Austrian national champion. Assistance dog Chiara is almost always at her side.
Chiara is a state-certified assistance dog and is registered on her disability card. "She is an important aid to self-help and supports me with many things," says P. in the ORF programme "Bürgeranwalt". The dog can pick up things that have fallen, carry small purchases home or even open doors. More importantly: "Chiara also brings me medicine or the telephone in emergencies. And she can warn me in good time before my spasticity goes into overdrive." A human couldn't do that.
"Chiara is not a pet, but an aid"
A wheelchair gives Jasmin P. almost unlimited mobility. In November 2023, she was scheduled for an inpatient stay at the General Accident Insurance Institution (AUVA) rehabilitation centre in Bad Häring. She wanted to try out orthoses there that would allow her to walk on her own two feet again. Shortly before her admission, she asked if there was anything she needed to consider because of Chiara. Jasmin P.: "The doctor told me I was welcome to come, but without my dog." The letter of refusal from the AUVA states "that admission for testing together with your assistance dog is not possible at our facility. We refer to the consultation with our legal department and our house rules."
This was out of the question for Jasmin P.: "Chiara is not a pet, but an aid. I just need her!" She then fought for the orthoses without having to go to rehab. Nevertheless, she cannot understand why it was not possible for her to take the assistance dog with her to the rehabilitation centre and has turned to the Ombudsman Board.
The PVA has already changed its guidelines, now it is the AUVA's turn
Ombudsperson Achitz: "It is not permissible to generally prohibit assistance dogs from being taken into hospitals. Exceptions are only possible for hygienic reasons, for example in operating theatres. The Austrian Ombudsman Board has already intervened in a number of similar cases - and has made progress, for example with the PVA." It has changed its guidelines and now allows assistance dogs into all rooms of the PVA rehabilitation centres to which patients also have access. The access bans are limited to areas such as the kitchen. "I also expect the AUVA and all contract facilities to realise this. Austria has committed to implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and this also applies to the AUVA."
The aim of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is for people with disabilities to be able to make self-determined decisions about the organisation of their own lives and to have full participation in all areas of life. Art. 9 UN CRPD guarantees equal and barrier-free access to the physical environment, in particular to medical facilities and services. Art. 20 UN CRPD standardises the right to personal mobility with the greatest possible independence, in particular with technological, human and animal assistance.
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