Respite care services - an interview with conference organizers Imago Foundation

1. Let us talk about respite services as such.  What is especially notable in this kind of support?

The key objective is to support families and those caring for older people or people with disabilities, to enable them to regenerate, both mentally and physically, to mitigate stress involved in performing everyday tasks, so that they can function better as they fulfil various roles in life. At the same time, it is equally important to offer e.g., people with disabilities an opportunity to take part in activities that foster their development, in line with their needs. Without these, the service will not succeed.

2. The next International Short Break Association (ISBA) conference will be held in September 2023. Why should people attend?

The ISBA conference is a unique opportunity to learn about international solutions in the area of respite and family support services. In addition, it creates an opportunity to forge connections with people from other countries, who are committed to their work and who also value the power of relationship building. For the first time the conference will take place in Poland, and since previous conferences have been organised in the US, UK, Iceland or Australia, participants from our part of Europe will now have much easier access to the event. In my view, due to the extraordinary openness of the ISBA community, it has always been more than a conference - it is an experience!

3. The conference location, Wrocław and Lower Silesia - are they also assets of this year's edition?

The event fits in with the city's long-standing policy of promoting Wrocław as open-minded, “Wroclaw - The meeting place”, or “Wrocław Without Barriers”. The city has traditionally hosted large international events such as EXPO, EURO and World Games. The overall ambience is conducive to meeting new people, given a rich cultural and tourist offer, which is true of both Wroclaw and the entire region.

4. Please, tell us about your Association/Foundation.

For more than 10 years, Imago Foundation has been a national pioneer in the development of personal assistant and respite services, accessibility, vocational counselling and adventure therapy. Our programmes currently benefit approximately 450 people per year in six different cities and regions in Poland. Networking with public administration institutions and other foundations or associations is our daily bread, a way to achieve our goals. Cooperation with our foreign partners has always been an inexhaustible source of inspiration which we like to share - in recent years we have organized more than 40 study visits for over 400 participants.