Family caregivers carry a heavy daily load: looking after a relative around the clock takes a toll on their own health, their finances and their sense of connection to other people. Chronic loneliness is linked to serious long-term health risks, and caregivers, who often have little time or energy left for themselves, are especially exposed to it. In Athens, there are very few local, informal spaces designed to help them meet others in the same situation.
Building a regular, welcoming place close to home, where caregivers can turn for practical support and simply feel less alone, addresses a need that is both urgent and, at present, largely unmet.
The project
Carers' Cafe brings caregivers together for 12 monthly local group meetings and 2 educational workshops, each built around a simple structure. The first part of every meeting is led by doctors and healthcare professionals, who share practical, everyday guidance on managing stress and finding medical support through the city's public services. The second part is given over to the caregivers themselves, who meet in a private, welcoming setting to share their experiences and everyday coping strategies with people who understand what they are going through.
The programme aims to reduce the isolation and chronic stress that caregiving can bring, build a lasting network of peer support, and open a more direct path between caregivers and the professional and public services available to them. Public workshops, timed around European Carers Day, also help bring caregiving out of the private sphere and into community awareness.
Who the project is for
The project's direct beneficiaries are family caregivers of people with disabilities, mental illness or autism living in the Municipality of Athens, with the initiative expecting to reach at least 50 caregivers through more than 100 participations across its sessions and public events.
Indirectly, the people receiving care from these caregivers also benefit, as a caregiver who is less isolated and under less strain is better placed to keep providing steady, attentive care at home.
Project name: Carers' Cafe: Empowering Informal Carers and Fostering Social Connection in Athens
Proposing organisation: Greek Carers Network EPIONI
Area of intervention: Inclusion & Social Development
Country: Greece