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Description
According to Municipal Social Welfare Center data (welfare resources assessment report for 2019), in Łódź in 2019, 25 274 people who did not take up employment or who stopped working to care for a person close to them, needing daily assistance to function, received welfare. The currently available forms of support are highly limited, for example over a period of two years 135 people were able to obtain psychological counseling, and 280 people to use services of an assistant to a person with disabilities. The problem we intend to address is the low level of access to free respite care for carers of people in need of help to function daily. We will provide respite care for carers (at the place of residence or activities matching interests at the foundation), and psychological and legal assistance. We will provide training for interested persons on self-advocacy measures (psychology workshops on self-advocacy, personal presentation, public appearances (including in front of a camera), working with journalists, and social media activities). We will issue a self-advocacy e-handbook. We will create a carer cooperative (relaxation meetings, workshops on forming a support group). We will provide support for self-advocates in measures to provide better access to respite services and change the system for providing them (participating in consultations). We will help to produce texts and conduct interviews, and publish them. Twenty people caring for persons who require assistance to function daily in Łodź and those in their care will participate. The measures will provide time to rest and regenerate for twenty carers of persons who require assistance to function daily and improve their psychological condition. Seven people will be trained and commence self-advocacy activities.
Summary of project results
The project addresses the problem of low availability of free respite care for carers of people with disabilities. Data from the City Social Welfare Centre in Lodz (2019) shows that 25,274 people in Lodz who did not take up or gave up employment to take care of a loved one requiring daily support, received respite care benefits. The forms of support currently available, including psychological support or assisted living, are very limited and, in reality, few people can benefit from them. This in turn means that the total responsibility for caring for people with disabilities falls on their relatives, most often family, parents or children. An inefficient system promotes exhaustion and burnout.
The project provided various types of support to carers of people with disabilities. Firstly, they could benefit from respite caregiver support at home or at the foundation''s premises, psychological support and psychotherapy, as well as transport for dependents. 12 people prepared for self-advocacy activities by participating in trainings (e.g. psychological, self-advocacy and PR workshops), preparing texts or giving interviews, and working on a self-advocacy handbook (the handbook was published in the form of an e-book). A co-operative of self-advocates has also been set up. 6 self-advocates were actively involved in the ''Our Ombudsman'' initiative, and several spoke in traditional and social media about the situation of carers of people with disabilities.
20 carers of people with disabilities benefited from the project. Through respite support, these people were able to rest, recover and strengthen their mental condition. 12 people were prepared to carry out self-advocacy activities and publicly address the difficulties faced by carers of people with disabilities.