The Service was launched by the Foundation in 2014. It provides detailed, updated, and personalized information, via telephone, e-mail, or in person (upon request), to citizens who need help making their way through local mental health services: regulations and procedures to access services. The service also offers information on other activities managed by the Foundation, helping individuals treated by public services access the many activities.

SOSS offers guidance and a listening ear to those who turn to the service for advice or support, while struggling through a difficult period. Sometimes family members and users report unfair treatment or negligence on behalf of an institution or a public or private service.

The service’s users are often those who are already familiar with the Foundation through direct experience or through the activities it carries out, such as its workshops, family groups and volunteer course. The service is also promoted on the Foundation’s website, its Facebook page, and Twitter profile, as well as through the informative material distributed during the many public initiatives it organizes.

In recent years, the service has grown in terms of numbers of citizens seeking information (+20% between 2016 and 2018).

In 2018, SOSS received about 130 requests, of which 57% by women. The requests were linked to situations and problems associated with mental health, in particular the need for socialization on behalf of young people facing psychological problems, the need for training, job placement, and housing solutions. The last two years saw a growth in requests made by the staff of various Mental Health Centers in Rome for the integration of individuals in socialization workshops that exceeded those of family members asking for support, guidance or information on therapeutic communities and self-help groups.

Contacts: +3906 6792669, supportosociale@fondazionediliegro.it