Project Information
(Foto: Valerii-Honcharuk-stock.adobe.com)
When a person experiences a health crisis due to an accident or chronic illness, it is usually an incredibly stressful situation for them and their family members. In addition to the medical threat posed by the injury/illness, the situation may be compounded by the need for personal, material or financial support at home, at school or at work, and the fact that neither the relevant person nor their family members know what help is available and where to apply for it. In addition to medical and nursing care, this may include, for example, the need for a severe disability pass, special early intervention services, an integration assistant for everyday school life, special workplace equipment to continue training or work, psychosocial counselling or any of the many other support services available as a member of society, student or employee.
This can leave patients and/or their family members feeling helpless in the face of a huge mountain of support options, without knowing which is right for them and who will pay for certain supports. This lack of knowledge, uncertainty and/or excessive demands can then lead to a situation where the state of health (physical or mental) does not improve or may even deteriorate.
During a stay in hospital, social services staff are a critical point of contact, providing initial advice to the relevant person and their family members about what support they can claim for a particular illness and any resulting limitations, and assisting with benefit applications where necessary. However, patients often only stay in hospital for a brief time and are usually discharged before social benefits have been finally applied for/approved.
This is where we want to begin with our project by offering people experiencing health crises and their family members low-threshold access to various counselling services. In counselling centres, such as the 'Supplementary Independent Participatory Counselling (EUTB)' or the 'General Social Counselling' services provided by the local Caritas associations, relevant people and their family members can find comprehensive advice on support services, get help with applications and, if necessary, be referred to specialised counselling services. For younger children before they start school, there are also support services that focus on the specific needs of this age group, such as the interdisciplinary early intervention centres.
With our project, we want to offer people suffering from an illness and their family members not only the necessary medical and/or nursing support from doctors and care facilities, but also the best possible support in everyday life so that they can continue to lead as self-determined a life as possible despite their fate. The early integration into a social support system should strengthen both the resilience of those affected and that of their family members.
The target group for the project is defined as children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 27. The Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Westphalia is monitoring the project scientifically in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the network. Of course, the counselling centres are open to patients of all ages who need support. We would like to encourage relevant patients in our target group and their family members to take part in the scientific study accompanying our project. By participating, you can win one of five Amazon vouchers worth €50 each.