More information
Description
The aim of the project is to facilitate access to free respite care for carers of people who need support in their daily living due to a disability or old age. Caring is very often associated with giving up participation in social and working life. Many people also neglect their health and completely give up their passions and life aspirations. In the City of Lodz, more than 25,000 people have not taken up a job or have given it up in order to care for a family member. As part of the project, we offer respite care services to carers living in the City of Lodz. We help these people to realise needs that, due to caring responsibilities, they have not put at the forefront. We provide support from a respite carer, psychological support, as well as transport for the cared-for person (e.g. to the place of activities or to other place of the family''s choice). We also conduct advocacy activities to increase the availability of free respite care in the City of Lodz. The project is implemented in the City of Lodz from November 1, 2022 to May 31. 2023.
Summary of project results
The "Respite" project aimed to facilitate access to free respite care for caregivers of people requiring support in everyday functioning (due to multiple disabilities or old age) in Łódź. It was addressed to the inhabitants of Łódź (KiM), where over 25,000 people (official statistics) did not take up or resigned from employment to care for a loved one and had little chance of receiving this type of help.
The project assumed comprehensive support for the 10 above-mentioned caregivers and 10 people with disabilities who are constantly cared for by the caregivers. We placed particular emphasis on the needs of caregivers who, due to their caring responsibilities, have never been at the forefront. Providing care very often involves giving up participation in social and professional life, many people also neglect their health and completely give up their passions and life aspirations.
The answer to these problems was the organization of respite care services, i.e. support of a respite caregiver, psychological assistance and transport of the patient (in the case of classes at the foundation or a place chosen by the family). Self-advocacy activities aimed at increasing the availability of free respite care were also an important element of the project.
The funding also helped us strengthen the foundation institutionally so that it could develop and take on new challenges.
The project was implemented in Łódź in the period from November 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.
ACTIONS
1. Respite support at home and/or at the foundation''s headquarters/other safe place chosen by the family
We supported 10 carers and 10 people with disabilities. In our case, people participating in the activities are parents and spouses of people who require support in everyday functioning and loved ones whom they support "full-time".
2. Psychological support
The second pillar of educational support was psychological assistance. We supported 10 caregivers.
3. Organization of transport for the ward (in the case of classes at the foundation or another place chosen by the family in Łódź)
4. Substantive support and coordination of activities of self-advocates - guardians of people requiring support in everyday functioning
5. Continuing the activities of the caregivers'' cooperative
The cooperative was established as part of the "About us with us" project implemented with subsidies from the Active Citizens - National Fund program. The most active members of the caregivers'' cooperative are 11 people in Łódź and 4 in Poznań.
6. Organizing a meeting summarizing the project.
PRODUCTS:
We have created a website for the project.
https://fundacjaktos.pl/projekty/wytchczenie
We published 10 journalistic texts (interviews, opinions, articles) on the website. created with the participation of self-advocates (caregivers of people requiring support in everyday functioning).We provided 800 hours of respite care.
We provided respite support to 10 people - caregivers of people requiring support in everyday functioning.
As part of the project, its participants received psychological support for 7 hours per person - a total of 70 hours.
We conducted 4 training sessions for self-advocates/checkers, attended by a total of 11 people.
The result of the project was to strengthen the mental condition of 10 caregivers through the provision of psychological services. Outcome was measured by surveys before and after psychological support and a written evaluation by a psychologist. In each case, the self-assessment survey showed improvement, which also coincided with the assessment given by the psychologist.From our perspective, what is very important (although, as we noted in the application, difficult to measure) is (not the results), but a certain added value of our project activities. The aim was to increase the quality of life of both actual caregivers and people requiring support in everyday functioning, as well as the socialization of the care recipients (people requiring support in everyday functioning) by providing them with the help of a respite caregiver, enabling them to build relationships and spend time actively. We received a clear message every day from the project participants (caregivers) that respite support made their everyday lives much easier, and that they were waiting for the days when they could rest. We observed that they were more rested and had more strength and willingness to live. However, when it comes to the caregivers'' charges - people who require support in everyday functioning, we saw how happy they were to meet us and how they were planning what we would do together. People with whom there is verbal contact said that they can''t wait for the next meeting and joint activities. However, those people with whom verbal contact was difficult smiled, stretched out their hands, hugged the caregiver - they gave a clear message that this relationship was a source of joy for them.