A centre dedicated to the families of people with disabilities, offering listening support, psychological assistance and guidance through life’s various stages. “I Pianeti” (“The Planets”), the new service run by the Disability Operating Unit and Social Support Service of the Institute for Social Security (ISS), was inaugurated this morning, 5 November, in Borgo Maggiore, with its headquarters at Via A. Saffi 6.
The Centre coordinates and structures existing interventions, with the aim of gradually expanding opportunities for parents, caregivers and other family members involved in caregiving. Activities include reception and orientation, family psychological support, support for siblings, mutual aid groups, family mediation, and training and information sessions.
“With ‘I Pianeti’ we want to give a more structured and recognisable form to the family support work that already accompanies the care of people with disabilities,” explains Francesca Civerchia, director of the Disability Operating Unit and Social Support Service. “Disability inevitably affects the balance and needs of the entire family unit, which can change at different stages of life.
That is why the Centre offers a range of interventions, from guidance to psychological support, from groups for parents and caregivers to dedicated spaces for siblings, while at the same time encouraging increasingly informed family participation in shaping the person’s Life Project.
This has been made possible by the preparation and daily commitment of the Service’s professionals, who, with expertise and care, support families through the different stages of their care journey.”
Part of the work focuses on key transition points, from the communication of a diagnosis to entry into services, and from adolescence to adulthood.
Support also extends to changes in schooling and employment, pathways towards independent living, and future planning.
The family takes part in shaping the Life Project together with professionals, through listening to the needs, wishes and priorities of the person with disabilities and their family unit.
The ceremony was attended by Secretary of State for Health Massimo Andrea Ugolini, representatives of the Secretariat of State for Justice and the ISS Executive Committee, the Captain of the Castello of Borgo Maggiore Matteo Sartini, staff from the centre, and representatives of the volunteer associations involved in the initiative.
“The opening of this Centre strengthens a model of care that looks not only at the individual’s condition, but also considers the family context in which care, growth and independence pathways develop,” said Ugolini. “Supporting families, giving them clear points of reference, and fostering stable collaboration with professionals makes the socio-healthcare system’s response more complete.
The goal is to support people with disabilities and those who stand by them every day with services that are increasingly attuned to real needs and to the different stages of life.”
ISS Director General Claudio Vagnini highlighted the role of family members in the care process: “When we care for a person with a disability, our attention must also extend to the family beside them — their needs, their struggles, and the resources they can bring.”
He added: “‘I Pianeti’ was born precisely from the desire to build a space where families can feel heard and supported, finding professionals and pathways capable of ensuring continuity of care.
For the ISS, this means strengthening a way of working founded on relationships, collaboration and the shared building of the person’s future.”
Families already followed by the Disability Operating Unit can contact their reference professionals directly. For information or to request an initial orientation meeting, call 0549 994844 or email spaziofamiglia.disabilita@iss.sm.
