Empowering disability services: future perspectives from the stories of people with disabilities

This study investigates the envisioned future of disability services in Finland through the stories of people with disabilities. Adopting a narrative perspective on the future, the study explores how services are imagined to contribute to promoting empowerment and rights of people with disabilities. The viewpoint is situated within the framework of structural social work, which aims to change societal structures that create inequality. The research question was as follows: What kinds of plots do people with disabilities produce regarding empowering disability services in the future? The data consisted of 17 stories collected using the Letters from the Future method and were analysed through narrative plot analysis. Three plots were identified: from being sidelined to becoming heard; from insufficient services to full agency; and from services as costs to services as resources. The findings suggest that, in a hoped-for future, disability social work and disability services should increasingly emphasize dialogical and rights-based approaches to support empowerment. Structural social work may play a significant role in developing services in this direction.