Several social entities representing different physical and organic disabilities from Seville and province, members of the Provincial Federation of Associations of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities of Seville (COCEMFE Seville), constituted a workshop – working table, which took place on 26 August in the Civic Centre Monasterio de San Jerónimo, with a total of 30 participants.
During the workshop, the 21 associations present discussed among themselves and expressed their needs and concerns. These included: the need for training in the associations; constant concern about self-financing, which distorts the essence of the actions; lack of resources; lack of involvement of the people associated with the organisations; complexity in institutional relations, etc.
Encarnación Barrera, COCEMFE Seville’s European projects technician, presented the results of the European programme Be Happy In Life, co-financed by Erasmus Plus of the European Union, of which Spain is one of the partner countries that develops it together with Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Italy and Denmark. Specifically, she spoke about support tools for family carers of people with disabilities such as: a training programme for independent living – new perspectives on disability and care; a toolkit for professional carers; a toolkit for families; and an audiovisual platform Be Happy In Life.
As part of the programme’s presentation, Barrera highlighted the caring role that women often play in families, which limits their ability to develop their own life plan, affecting their mental health and physical deterioration. To address this, Be Happy In Life offers caregivers the possibility of carrying out activities that provide them with psychological support and promote their social inclusion. A change from the paternalistic model to the model of personal assistance is necessary.
For her part, Marina Hidalgo, head of the Federation’s Social Area, explained the functions of the Federation’s Social Area, the typology of its programmes, etc. She also emphasised the development of joint actions for the sustainability of the associative movement, the fulfilment of the aims established in the statutes of the organisation and the promotion of networking. She also emphasised the development of joint actions for the sustainability of the associative movement, the fulfilment of the aims set out in the statutes of the organisation and the promotion of networking. After the working group, an agape was offered, which allowed networking between representatives of the same movement.
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