We have completed a very important phase in our international FairCare project, which focuses on involving all stakeholders in long-term care. This stage was essential for enabling us to move forward. 

At the end of last year, a large international team came together in Erfurt, Germany, for a one-week joint training to review and analyze progress so far.  
The team consisted of participants from the Advisory Groups established in each country, including care recipients, institutional and home caregivers, assistants, and family members. The composition of the participants was extremely important, as our guiding principle throughout the project is “Nothing About Us Without Us.” 
 
During the week, participants worked intensively to review the FairCare collaboration materials, making revisions, consolidations, and additions. 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS EXTENSIVE WORK IN THE THIRD NEWSLETTER! 

You can find all the Newsletters in the News/Blog menu. 

In our third Newsletter, we report on another fundamental phase. With the developed training material, the participants of the countries’ Advisory Teams worked for a week during the in-person training in Germany. Based on the principle of “Nothing about us without us,” the future users themselves, the target groups of the project, gave their feedback and compiled the final training material. You can read a very detailed report on this important work in the Newsletter.

Also, take a look at the next steps of the project.

Click here for the English version:

Read the second Newsletter of the FairCare project, where you can discover the exciting results of a very important phase. The aim of FairCare is to ensure that all stakeholders involved in long-term care communicate effectively with each other, and for this purpose, we are developing a professional training material. Our guiding principle is “Nothing about us without us,” so we asked the Advisory Teams established in each country what they would like to see in the training material and what would be useful for their learning. You can read the results of this survey here.

Our second in-person meeting took place in Dublin, and you can also read about the outcomes of that meeting. Plus, the Hungarian Advisory Team is introduced!

Click here for the English version:

Read the first Newsletter of the FairCare project, where you can learn about the project’s mission and objectives. You can also find a short report on our first in-person meeting and get to know the international partners we are collaborating with in this project.
Click here for the English version:

Each project partner has created its Advisory Group, ensuring representation from all three target groups to best meet their inclusion needs.

Their very first task was to support and review the research questionnaire, designed by the Fair Care team to identify the strengths and challenges of the current care systems. Thanks to their direct experience and valuable advice, we will ensure that the questionnaires propose a simple language, are accessible and truly responsive to everyone’s needs.

Their voices and ideas are essential to guide our work!

Inclusion is more than just participation – it means actively shaping one’s own life. But what does this look like in the context of care? What conditions must be met to ensure that people can truly express their wishes and needs? 

 Self-Determination in Care – Challenges and Solutions 
Many people experience limitations in their autonomy within care settings. Strict routines, lack of resources, or structural barriers can make it difficult to consider individual preferences. At the same time, there are many ways to promote self-determination – through greater participation, improved conditions, and a respectful attitude toward personal needs. 

 We want to hear from you! 
What does self-determination mean to you? 
Where do you see obstacles to self-determination in care? 
What measures could help enable true participation? 

Let’s work together to create a care system that not only supports but truly empowers people to live independently. Your thoughts and ideas matter – share them with us! 

From June 24 to June 26, 2025, the partners of the FairCare project will meet in Dublin, for the Second Transnational Partners Meeting. This event will bring together all project partners to review progress, share insights, and plan the next steps in promoting fair and sustainable care work across Europe. 

Stay tuned for updates as we work together to advance the goals of FairCare! 

In the FairCare project, organizations from 6 countries (Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Spain) work together to create and promote independent, self-determined life in long-term care. 

The strength of the project is that it involves ALL relevant target groups, who participate in close cooperation in the development of a training course for this purpose.  

The aim of this training program is to enable people with disabilities and/or in need of care to exercise self-determination in long-term care. The training will support them in communicating their own needs and wishes more effectively, thereby allowing them to exercise greater autonomy in their daily lives. 

Project duration: 01.10.2024.- 31.05.2027. 

The target groups of the project are participants in all aspects of long-term care, whose cooperation is necessary to strengthen social inclusion and independent living: 

The primary target group is the elderly and people with disabilities in need of care, who want to live an independent life in their chosen living environment, with appropriate support services. 
The elderly and disabled population is a very heterogeneous group. Many people become disabled to some degree as a result of their age. It is important to keep in mind that many older people do not consider themselves disabled, but in fact they have similar experiences. For example, because of their age, older people are not considered to be able to live independently and self-determined lives. 

The secondary target group are relatives, friends and other informal carers who provide them with the necessary care and support services, which the professional care system does not provide or cannot provide sufficiently in the desired form and quality. 
As affected people, they also have individual needs and challenges that need to be supported. However, informal carers are most often neither sufficiently equipped with the training to carry out their tasks nor viewed as knowledgeable and experienced resources in the organization and provision of care. 

The tertiary target group are formal carers. Who want to work in a support and care system in which they contribute their professional skills in such a way, that people in need of care live as self-determinedly, safely and independently as possible and can participate in social life.