Working Groups

Working Group – International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

The ICF Working Group brings together EPR members with a particular interest in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) system to exchange information on how to increase knowledge and practical use of ICF in their organisations with regards to medical and vocational rehabilitation. They keep each other informed about learning and training opportunities provided by international ICF experts and trainers. They also explore possibilities to interact with WHO and EU entities concerned with ICF.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – Mental Health

The Mental Health Working Group gathers practitioners working on services offered to people with mental health problems, disorders or disability from within the EPR member organisations.

Every year, the Working Group meets twice online and once in person for a study visit. Agenda items  include updates and news on members’ relevant initiatives, projects and services, recent EU-level events concerned with mental health, and joint work on producing a briefing on a timely topic related to taking care of “good” mental health and well-being.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – Return to Work & Partnerships

The Return to Work and Partnerships Working Group works with employers aiming to support their staff who are facing the impacts of an accident or chronic disease and their return to work. It discusses the barriers, success factors and good practices for return-to-work programmes, job retention and reasonable accommodation.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – INTEREHA

The INTEREHA Working Group is led by EPR member Fondazione Don Gnocchi. It aims to share practices among tech-based (or willing-to-be tech-based) organisations, and works to establish a metric to evaluate practices in the fields of rehabilitation and training, to bring the respective voices to policy makers’ level, as well as to consider related project developments.

Contact person: Alicia Gómez Campos, agomezcampos@epr.eu

Working Group – Digital Skills

The Digital Skills Working Group gathers practitioners concerned with education, training, employment and other services for persons with disabilities, and provides trainings and learning for staff working in care, support and service. It meets three times a year to look into updates and news on members’ activities, guidance on use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in service design and delivery, integrating skills and trainings, awareness and protection for service users online, and good practices with technology.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – Youth

The Youth Working Group brings together youth workers, social workers, therapists and other care or support professionals working with young people with disabilities. They are involved in education and training, independent living and employment support, vocational and social rehabilitation.

The Working Group assembles three times throughout the year, including two online meetings and one in-person study visit. Discussed topics include members’ news and updates, good practices on awareness raising, guidance and counselling, and living conditions affecting the mental health of young people in transition from teen to adult age, school to work, and more.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – Funding

The EPR Funding Working Group is a collaborative initiative designed to foster knowledge exchange and cultivate a dynamic space for the development of content and project ideas. Comprising members from diverse backgrounds and expertise, the group aims to leverage collective insights and experiences in funding opportunities and projects. By providing a platform for sharing project ideas and innovative approaches, the Funding Working Group empowers its participants to explore various types of funding. This collaborative effort contributes to the overarching goal of enhancing social services provision and initiatives across Europe, ultimately working towards the improvement of the quality of life for people with disabilities.

The group is mainly dedicated to people who are directly involved in the drafting or management of projects. The aim is to collect as many competencies and experiences in the field of EU projects, which EPR and its members have to offer.

Contact person: Roberto Zanon,  rzanon@epr.eu

Policy Network

The EPR Policy Network identifies opportunities to feed recommendations developed within other EPR activities into policy drafting. This is done through preparing responses to written EU consultations and by contributing to consultation meetings. The meetings also aim to provide EPR members a space to learn more about current EU policy developments, provide input into public consultations, share updates from their organisations related to policy issues and from their national, regional or local level. Discussed topics include: the European Semester, Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) focusing on employment/services; the European Disability Strategy and the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR).

Contact person: Clara Beser, cbeser@epr.eu