Mihaela Ivanova

Abstract

Mihaela Ivanova is 31 years old. She has spent much of her adult life campaigning for the deinstitutionalisation of children with intellectual disabilities. “A place with 50 children is not a family”, Mihaela told The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. “You are nobody there, you exist only on documents. Governments should support community services; the place of every child is in a family environment or with a close relative.” Institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of children 2: policy and practice recommendations for global, national, and local actorsWorldwide, millions of children live in institutions, which runs counter to both the UN-recognised right of children to be raised in a family environment, and the findings of our accompanying systematic review of the physical, neurobiological, psychological, and mental health costs of institutionalisation and the benefits of deinstitutionalisation of child welfare systems. In this part of the Commission, international experts in reforming care for children identified evidence-based policy recommendations to promote family-based alternatives to institutionalisation. Full-Text PDF Institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of children 1: a systematic and integrative review of evidence regarding effects on developmentMillions of children worldwide are brought up in institutional care settings rather than in families. These institutions vary greatly both in terms of their organisational principles and structure, and in terms of the quality of care provided. Although institutions are universally recognised as providing suboptimal caregiving environments, consensus is still needed on how to interpret the evidence relating to the size, range, and persistence of the effect of institutional care on the development and wellbeing of children. Full-Text PDF