We can learn the most from proven, good practices also in the field of long-term care! We are happy to receive and even happier to share the good practices of different countries. Send us as many as possible!
Let’s look at good examples:
#1
The Italian “MAPPET” project, which was recently completed in the municipalities of Ancona and Falconara Marittima, is a powerful example of community-based care that supports active ageing. It supports independence, and above all places the person at the centre. Led by COOSS Marche and in cooperation with local partners, MAPPET developed an integrated and personalised support model for older adults, which combines social services, healthcare, and community resources — starting from people’s own needs, preferences, and life choices.
How did it work?
The project offered a wide range of activities and services tailored to individual needs, including:
Cognitive screenings and personalised care plans.
Digital tools and tablets for home-based cognitive training and rehabilitation.
Specialist support (psychologists, physiotherapists, nutritionists), also at home.
Creative and community activities such as art therapy, music sessions, and memory training workshops.
Community initiatives to reduce isolation and strengthen social connections.
Support and training for family members and caregivers.
These actions resulted in a 360° care model, where technology, locally available services, and community participation are not ends in themselves, but tools to help people express their needs and actively shape their own care pathways.
Who is it for?
For people aged 65+ and their families, with the aim of preventing cognitive decline, supporting independence, and strengthening their role as active shapers of their own wellbeing.
Why is it a good practice?
Because it brings a shift in perspective: care is no longer something that is “provided” to people, but something that is built around their voice, choices, and self-determination.
MAPPET shows that when people are supported in expressing what they want and need, services become more meaningful, more effective, and more respectful of dignity.
This approach is closely aligned with the goals of FairCare, which supports inclusion, empowerment, and the right of vulnerable people to shape their own care and life paths.
Watch the final project video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKn0LxWhq7M
#2
Best Practice from Germany: Neighbourhood Assistance
In Germany people with a care level who receive care in their own home have the opportunity to use a certain amount (up to €131 per month) for everyday support services. This can be support from neighbourhood helpers, for example. The support services include accompanying individuals to medical appointments, public authorities, and walks. Assistance is also provided with shopping, household tasks, and outdoor domestic work such as gardening. In addition, support may involve helping with communication, for example by reading aloud or assisting with filling out forms. The services further include encouragement and support in leisure activities and maintaining social contacts, carrying out light physical exercises such as gymnastics, and memory training to support the management of everyday social activities. The helpers receive a so-called expense allowance of a maximum of 10 euros per hour.
Neighbourhood assistance supports people in need of care and their relatives with low-threshold everyday tasks. It provides support for caregivers while at the same time enabling people in need of care to organise their daily lives more self-determinedly (this applies in particular to people without family support).
In addition, the service may help people remain in their own homes for longer and avoid having to move into a nursing home.
3#
A great example from Hungary: P-AGE Conscious Ageing Programme
The P-AGE Community Intergenerational and Age-Friendly project operates in Hungary/Pécs through the collaboration of the Pécs Community Foundation and the Hekate Conscious Ageing Foundation, with broad social involvement.
The long-term goal of the P-AGE Conscious Ageing Programme is to create a local community model for conscious ageing and to build a Hungarian conscious ageing network connected to the European system.
For the first time in human history, 4–5 generations are simultaneously active participants in society. The demographic transformation of the past 50–70 years — which continues today and will persist in the future — brings countless new opportunities, but also many new challenges. Never before have so many people over the age of 75 lived in Europe, while — partly due to digital transformation — the worlds of older and younger generations have perhaps never been so different as they are today.
At the same time, our society must find solutions to major challenges such as housing issues, demographic changes, the parallel care crisis, and the climate crisis. Addressing these complex challenges requires the knowledge, experience, and creativity of all generations — which in turn requires cooperation between them.
Although we can certainly find examples of spontaneous intergenerational cooperation in our own environment, community- and society-level collaboration between generations rarely emerges on its own. Such cooperation requires that members of different generations mutually see, hear, and understand one another. It is essential to have shared causes, activities, and spaces where mutual acquaintance, understanding, and collaboration can develop.
Strengthening and supporting this kind of intergenerational social cohesion is the main goal of the P-AGE Community Intergenerational and Age-Friendly Platform project.
Within the two-year project, joint work will result in the creation of an intergenerational toolkit with an age-friendly focus, based on international experiences. The toolkit will include a cooperation-supporting methodology, various practices, and an educational and awareness-raising board game that can be widely used in communities.
Members of the P-AGE Interdisciplinary Expert Community (from civil society, healthcare, higher education, research, culture, local government, architecture, and equality fields, among others) will also participate over the two years in a 10-session Conscious Ageing training programme focused on community but based on personal experience.
P-AGE organises regular clubs for older people who wish to consciously shape this stage of their lives. Among the forward-looking shared ideas and plans that emerge, one of the most outstanding is to implement an intergenerational housing model in Pécs between young people and older adults — addressing two major issues at once: loneliness among older people and housing difficulties faced by young people.
Read more about this great initiative here, in English and Hungarian:
https://pecsikozossegialapitvany.hu/oregedes/
https://tudatosoregedes.org/rolunk/
4#
Personal assistance even when it does not yet exist – Hungarian examples
Although in Hungary personal assistance is not yet recognised as an independent profession, people with disabilities naturally cannot live independently without it. Therefore, there are several ways in which personal assistance can still be accessed in Hungary, until legal regulation is established.
One good practice of this is the initiative of the Szimbiózis Foundation in Miskolc:
Supporting independent living based on self-determination for 16 people with high support needs who live in families or independently with disabilities, and creating a stable personal support system. The aim is to provide users with a perspective through which institutional care can be avoided. The project also includes employment, individual competence assessment, and career planning. The project is complemented by a social impact study. More information about the project: https://szimbiozis.net/-efop-1910-22-2022-00001
A similarly good practice for creating personal assistance is the work of the Freekey Foundation in Budapest.
They believe in the liberating power of self-determination, when we can make our own decisions about our lives. In personal assistance, the person with a disability appears in an active, employer role. The goal of Freekey is to enable people with disabilities to become conscious users of services and confident employers. On their website they provide useful advice for those who want to hire an assistant, those who would like to become assistants, relatives, and professionals. Their advice is supplemented with professional materials, research, and interviews. More about them: https://www.freekey.hu/what-are-we-doing
#5
“We Help at Home” Project – Hungary
The foundation is a community of nearly 30 families living in and around Győr. The children in this community require continuous care throughout their entire lives due to severe physical disabilities and multiple impairments.
This is how they describe their activities:
At the foundation, we work together voluntarily – for them and for ourselves. Our life situation means being on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This places a significant mental, emotional and physical burden on parents, who need support. Most of this support is provided by grandparents; however, as life naturally progresses, we can rely on them less and less.
Home assistance services available through the public system are only accessible on weekdays and during working hours. This does not fit the families’ daily schedules, as the children are at school during those times. In addition, because of the children’s severe conditions, trust is an extremely important factor for parents.
The development of the foundation has enabled us, taking all these aspects into account, to create the “We Help at Home” project exclusively for the nearly 30 families within the foundation’s community. We have been operating this service for more than a year. Currently, 25 families regularly receive support from 15 assistants who provide childcare in the families’ own homes.
We have also been able to fulfil one of our foundation’s main objectives: to reduce the financial burden on families by covering a large part of the assistants’ wages. Each family receives six hours of support per month.
In this form, this service is unique in Hungary.
https://egyavilagunkalapitvany.hu/otthon-segitunk-projekt/
#6
Best Practice from Catalonia: En Bici Sense Edat (Cycling Without Age)
En Bici Sense Edat is a non-profit association operating across Catalonia since 2016, with the mission of improving the health, wellbeing, and quality of life of older people and people with disabilities. It does so through therapeutic rides on specially adapted electric trishaws, piloted by trained volunteers.
The initiative is built on two simple but powerful values: generosity and kindness. A volunteer invites one or two older adults or people with reduced mobility to enjoy a bicycle ride, creating an opportunity to reconnect with the community, nature, and everyday life outside institutional settings.
By cycling slowly through neighbourhoods, parks, and public spaces, participants can fully experience their surroundings and enjoy meaningful social interactions. The visibility of the trishaws also sparks curiosity and conversation, helping to raise awareness about active ageing and social inclusion.
A central element of En Bici Sense Edat is the sharing of stories. Older people carry valuable life experiences that can easily be forgotten if there are no opportunities to listen. During the rides, volunteers and passengers exchange memories, experiences, and reflections, helping to preserve personal histories and strengthen intergenerational understanding.
Who is it for?
- Older adults who may experience loneliness, reduced mobility, or social isolation.
- People with disabilities who face barriers to participating in community life.
- Volunteers and community members who wish to contribute to a more inclusive society.
Why is it a good practice?
Because it demonstrates how a simple community-based action can generate significant social impact. The programme creates new relationships between generations, older adults, volunteers, care professionals, family members, and local communities.
These connections foster trust, wellbeing, dignity, and a stronger sense of belonging. The initiative also promotes a positive vision of ageing by showing that life remains meaningful, active, and enriching at every stage. Through shared experiences and social participation, En Bici Sense Edat helps people age in a supportive and empowering environment.
Key outcomes:
- Reduced loneliness and social isolation.
- Improved emotional wellbeing and quality of life.
- Increased intergenerational interaction and community engagement.
- Greater visibility and inclusion of older people and people with disabilities.
- Promotion of active and positive ageing.
For more information: https://www.enbicisenseedat.cat/
#7
Strengthening the participation of people living with ADHD – ADD Cyprus
The ADD-ADHD Cyprus organization promotes the understanding, acceptance, and appropriate support of children, young people, and adults affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). They support the creation of environments where people living with ADHD are listened to, respected, and receive support adapted to their individual strengths, needs, and goals. Their main aim is to enable people living with ADHD to actively participate in education, care, work, and community life.
How does it work?
The school, community organization, or care provider creates a safe, inclusive, and accessible environment. A trained educator, caregiver, or facilitator talks with the person concerned about their strengths, interests, challenges, preferred learning methods, and personal goals. Afterwards, they jointly develop a simple, flexible support plan, which includes:
- the use of clear daily routines and visual schedules;
- short, manageable tasks;
- step-by-step instructions;
- regular movement or rest breaks;
- the use of reminders, calendars, and digital tools;
- providing quiet spaces with fewer distractions;
- providing extra time when needed;
- opportunities to choose between activities;
- positive feedback and encouragement;
- regular communication between the person concerned, the family, and professionals.
The support plan is regularly reviewed, providing an opportunity for the person living with ADHD to express what works well for them, what difficulties they encounter, and what adjustments would be needed.
Why is it a good practice?
It recognizes that every person living with ADHD is unique. Some people may need support with attention, organization, time management, communication, or emotional regulation, while at the same time they often have outstanding strengths, such as creativity, energy, curiosity, or problem-solving abilities. It increases self-confidence, active participation, and independence, while helping family members, educators, and professionals to support the people concerned more effectively. The model is flexible, practice-oriented, and can be applied across different ages, cultures, and European contexts.
Link: https://www.add-adhdcy.org/?lang=en
#8
Memory, creativity and shared care: a community learning model – Cyprus
The “Moesis Stylianou” Memory and Creative Expression Center in Limassol, Cyprus, provides an open and inclusive space where older people can meet others, strengthen their memory, maintain their abilities, improve their physical health, and express themselves creatively. Its activities include cognitive and physical exercises, music, dance, creative workshops, group discussions, psychological support, and recreational activities. It also provides training for volunteers and caregivers.
The main aim of the program is to support people with care and support needs to live with dignity, more independently, and with greater control over their everyday lives. The program does not see them as passive recipients of care. It encourages them to express their wishes, choose activities, share their experiences, and participate in decisions related to the support they receive.
How does it work?
The organization creates a safe and accessible community space where regular learning and well-being activities take place. Before joining, each participant has a friendly discussion with a trained facilitator about their interests, abilities, needs, and personal goals. Based on the discussion, participants can choose from the following activities:
- memory and cognitive exercises;
- gentle physical movement and exercise;
- music, dance, and creative expression;
- storytelling and sharing life experiences;
- discussions about rights, choices, and self-determination;
- digital skills and practical everyday learning;
- peer-support meetings;
- social and recreational activities;
- joint workshops for people with care and support needs and caregivers.
Participants regularly review their personal goals and can suggest changes to the program.
Why is it a good practice?
It combines care, learning, creativity, and social participation within a single community-based model. It focuses on the whole person, not only on their health condition or care needs. It can help people maintain their abilities, increase their self-confidence, build social connections, and express their wishes more clearly.
It also helps caregivers to better understand the person concerned, improve cooperation, and provide safer, more respectful, and more personal support.
The model can be flexibly adapted to different European countries, communities, cultures, and care systems. Activities can be implemented in community centers, residential institutions, rural areas, day care centers, or online, depending on local needs and available resources.