Working Groups

Working Group – Employment, Inclusion and ICF

Building on previous years’ ICF-related activities, the task force will meet online throughout the year. The work in 2022 will focus on presenting and discussing the latest research, studies and use among members of ICF for inclusive ability assessment The Working Group will aim to build database on EPR’s knowledge hub of tools used by members and research/studies. The group will discuss also the proposal of how to use statistics from the use of ICF to provide relevant data to the Commission.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – Mental Health

The Mental Health Working Group will meet online twice and will meet in person for a study visit. The Working Group will focus on developing resources on supporting people experiencing trauma and will develop a project concept. There will be also a joint session on young people with MH problems with youth WG to develop a leaflet with success factors. Participants also met in person for the National Awareness Raising Event in The Netherlands.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – Return to Work & Partnership with Employers

This group focuses on working with employers aiming to support their staff 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. External experts and regulators from the relevant fields will be invited. A practice-oriented report with promising (integrated) models and approaches of disability management, indicating their contribution to policies and regulatory frameworks is being elaborated.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – INTEREHA

The INTEREHA working group will continue to share practices among tech-based (or willing-to-be tech-based) organisations, work to establish a metric to evaluate practices in the fields of rehabilitation and training, bring their voices to policy makers’ level, as well as consider project development.

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

Working Group – Policy

Identifying opportunities to feed recommendations developed in other EPR activities into policy development. Drafting responses to written EU consultations and contributing to consultation meetings, 2 online meetings, discussing and exchanging information from EU and national levels on: the European Semester, RRP focusing on employment/services; Disability Strategy; EPSR. Develop recommendations to policy makers on above topics; gathering input from members during the drafting process

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

Working Group – Digital Skills

3 meetings: 2 online and 1 in person will take place in 2022. The group will share good practices for discussion. It willassess needs and develop project concepts as well as recommendations to service providers in development of programmes for digital skills of staff & students and recommendations to policy makers on support to WDs digital skills.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working group – Youth

The Youth WG will meet online twice and once in person, including a study visit. There will be a focus on transitions of young people, feeding into the publication of good practices and an event on the topic, and inclusive education and training will also be addressed. There will be a joint session on young people with MH problems with the Mental Health WG to develop a leaflet with success factors.

Contact person: Eberhard Lueder, elueder@epr.eu

Working Group – Funding and Project Development

Topic 1: Exchange among EPR members on project planning, sharing results, discussing challenges.

Topic 2: Sharing ideas for joint projects, partners matching, kick-off applications. Identification of needs/challenges/topics of interest for EPR to be the focus of the group, discussion of relevant funding calls, drafting of project ideas to be then further developed jointly with Innovation Taskforces/Working Groups where relevant.

Contact person: Roberto Zanon,  rzanon@epr.eu