Digital group meetings for carers who speak Arabic
The Swedish Family Care Competence Centre has recently started to offer digital group meetings for people who take care of someone with multiple disabilities and who speaks Arabic. The aim is to reach out to more carers in Sweden and help them to engage in conversations with others with similar experiences.
Taking care of someone can be tough and affect one’s life in many ways. In addition, living in a country where you don’t completely understand or speak the language can make the situation even more difficult. The language barriers can make it hard to understand your rights and what support you can get, and there’s a risk that you might feel lonely or isolate yourself.
The Swedish Family Care Competence Centre (Nationellt kompetenscentrum anhöriga, Nka) has for several years worked with different kinds of support groups for people who take care of someone with multiple disabilities. At the meetings, the participants have the chance to talk about what’s important for them and listen to other carers with similar experiences. The meetings are very appreciated – as a carer, it can be relieving to talk to someone else and to understand that you’re not alone.
In an attempt to reach more carers in Sweden, The Swedish Family Care Competence Centre, decided to start digital group meetings for people who take care of someone with multiple disabilities and who speaks Arabic. The first group started in spring 2021 and a new digital group will start in November.
The group meets seven times and at the meetings the participants have the opportunity to share their experiences, thoughts and listen to others in similar situations. The participants have been able to support each other and talk about issues and problems that they recognize themselves in. Since the meetings are digital, it enables people from different places to participate. The only things needed is a computer/mobile/tablet and internet connection.
Amad Lindblom, CBT therapist at a competence centre that operates with issues related to disabilities, participate in the meetings. She speaks Arabic and can translate the conversations if needed. Representatives from The Swedish Family Care Competence Centre also participate at the meetings and contribute with their knowledge about carers situations and rights. The thoughts and experiences that carers share during the meetings are important in improving the support for carers.
At Nka:s website you can find more information about the digital group meetings in both Swedish and Arabic: https://bit.ly/3qCx5nB
Text: Josefine Göransson
