A portal at the service of those who serve others. It was launched at the Spazio Daste in Bergamo the caregiverbergamo.it website, a collection of services, information and opportunities for those called upon to take care of fragile people or people in need of assistance. An audience that, in the Bergamo area alone, numbers over 120 thousand people: of these, 46% work, 67% live with the patient but only a minority is aware of the opportunities and services available to them. The portal therefore tries to respond quickly and easily to the needs of caregiversenclosing them in three large families: training (with a list of courses, events or support groups to contact), useful information (section where frequently asked questions, video tutorials and guides have been collected) e the services map present in the area, with the relevant contacts. Services provided by bodies, cooperatives, associations and different professional figures who rarely have the opportunity to compare, but who for about a year they have been sitting around the table for the Caregiver Bergamo Laboratorya project created to bring together the experiences, skills and energies of the subjects in the field.
«Between cooperatives, unions, universities, associations and public bodies, 85 entities collaborated on the project», summarizes Michele Foresti of ATS Bergamo, who identifies the 2020 pandemic as the moment in which confrontation became unavoidable. «From October 2020 to April 2021 we met 3500 people, of which 70% were unknown to the social and medical services – recalls Barbara Battaglia, Head of Social Services of the Social Sector of the Upper Seriana Valley and Scalve Valley –. We have seen first-hand the needs not only of the sick, but also of those who care for them.” Caregivers who expressed three needs: the mitigation of stress, the simplification of access to information and the possibility of more flexible and customizable services.
«Requests that need to be answered if we want these people to become an integral part of a healthcare system which, due to its current problems, cannot ignore home care», recalls Oscar Bianchi, President of CSV Bergamo.
And to give answers to caregivers, Osvaldo RanicaPresident of the Bergamo Community Foundation, e Marcella Messinapresident of the Board of Auditors, signed the agreement for the creation of a fund that will support the laboratory’s initiatives. At the moment the budget is 7000 euros, allocated by the Board of Mayors, but the aim is to replenish it in the short termperhaps taking advantage of the meeting scheduled for Friday 17th at the Social Domus Digital Space (Piazzetta Marcovigli 2), promoted by the Mental Health Campaign, or the events of Sunday 19th in Daste on the occasion of Caregiver Day 2024.
