The ‘European Deafblind Indicators project website’ project was developed from September 2012 to September 2014 by nine deafblind organizations from eight EU Member States. All of the individual members of the project group are part of the European Deafblind Network (EDbN) and it is through this Network that the project was conceived and developed. This project aims to create a common European framework for the assessment of institutional models of care for the deafblind based on indicators created ex novo: the Indicators of Deafblindness Equality in Europe (IDbEE).
Its importance lies in the certainty that great differences in the degree of attention exist between the various European States. The outcome of this project was nowhere near enough data is collected about deafblindness, and the extent of deafblindness is seriously underestimated.
As most organizations do not cater for the specific needs of deafblind people, there are not enough specific deafblind services in most states. Communication support and personal assistance systems for deafblind people in Europe are sketchy at best and inadequate although it withholds their rights to health and social care, family life and leisure. As long as there is better support from the governments, change is possible. Therefore, it is imperative that on a European level we make a noise.