SOCIAL SERVICE IN ATHENS
AND THESSALONIKI
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The main role of the Social Service, which offers its help
and support to the Polyclinics of the organization in Ath-
ens and Thessaloniki, is:
•
To record requests and needs
•
To offer immediate and updated information
•
To provide direct support to the beneficiaries
•
To support the internal and external interface and
monitoring
•
To encourage collaboration and networking
Social scientists who have received training in managing
the beneficiaries of other nationalities and in cooperation
with trained cultural mediators create a state of trust and
security, treating each case individually; and, in coopera-
tion with the beneficiary and the mediator, they create an
action plan, oriented to the specifics and needs of the
team.
In addition to prompt and efficient service in response
to an incident, when necessary, home visits and escorts
to appointments are made for specialized services, and
informative cover letters are written in the mother tongue
of the beneficiary, as well as in Greek, in order to make
the monitoring of the incident more effective.
The main purpose of the operation of the Social Service
is to help the beneficiary population that is in crisis, al-
ways based on an honest and realistic course of action
and the training of the person who is facing the crisis to
be effective in the future management and resolution of
the situation.
In the last years, due to the economic crisis that Greece
is facing, there is a great increase of Greek beneficiaries
that seek for our help.
The philosophy of PRAKSIS follows a “holistic interven-
tion model”, according to which our interventions and our
structures are designed and implemented in such way
as to answer to all the requests, either from the public or
from our network and other partner organizations. In this
context, our structures provide immediate and free medi-
cal and pharmacological care, basic hygiene services
(showers, hygiene kits, clothes, beverages etc.), psycho-
logical support, social support, employment counseling
and work promotion, legal counseling, accompanying
support, intermediation and escort services, and hous-
ing for specific vulnerable groups. Generally, services are
provided for anyone who is experiencing some sort of
discrimination and exclusion.
Providing psychosocial support services
A HOLISTIC INTERVENTION MODEL
