The city of Bergamo sits in the Lobardy region of northern Italy, 25 miles northeast of Milan. It is famous for its art, architecture, opera, cuisine and history, and is also growing in reputation for its innovative approaches to healthcare.
One organisation working in this field is Kaleidos co-operatives, a social enterprise founded in 2005 that has been developing programmes that respond to emerging needs, with “a commitment to using social innovation to support vulnerable people”.
Over the last 20 years, its technological “vocation” has seen it develop digital medicine platforms (eHealth) to improve the relationship between medical doctors and patients, and establish a genetic analysis and counselling programme. But its “whole person” approach has also seen Kaleidos support people affected by mental health, through a dedicated platform and supported living spaces that host people recovering from mental health crises, or struggling with mental fragility or chronic illnesses who do not have a solid family network to rely on.
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In 2015, Kaleidos opened the Giardino delle Ortensie (Hydrangea Garden), a clinical facility for up to 10 people “aged over 60 with mental fragility who are not independent enough to return home”, or are without a family network capable of assisting them. In 2022, it set up two co-housing apartments for up to six and two people respectively, of any age, recovering from mental health crises including depression and schizophrenia.
The running costs of Giardino delle Ortensie are directly paid by the Italian health ministry, while at the co-housing apartments, patients cover 75% of the costs with the remainder funded by other public entities, explains Dr Marco Crimi, president and biomedical programme manager at Kaleidos.
“The co-housing facility is dedicated to people who are now not feeling so bad, but are still affected by mental health status and who lack a network of assistance. So this is a soft housing facility with multi-disciplinary teams to care for them – nurses, psychologists, people who assist in the routine of care.
“These people live in very beautiful housing that is in the middle of downtown of Bergamo. So the quality of life is very high.”
Some residents at Giardino delle Ortensie have been there since the start, while others stay for a short time. “Some beds are focused on people who stay for very few months, for the summer time or some specific period of their life,” says Dr Crimi, “So more or less, the average is about three years.”
One of the most important parts of the programmes, he adds, is socialisation.
“In most cases, what they really need is a solution that can support them to socialise with other patients and with the networks outside the housing that we offer to them. We build a lot of collaborations with other entities in the territory. We have strong networks of collaborations who plan activities in parks, visits to museums and offer craft, cooking, music and dance sessions.” The accommodation also has its own small growing space.
Kaleidos is a member of Confcooperative Sanità, Italy’s national federation “representing, protecting and promoting the co-operatives of doctors, pharmacists, and other co-operatives operating in the healthcare sector”.
Networking with other co-operatives is fundamental for us and for all the other players involved,” says Dr Cimi. “It allows us to communicate to external stakeholders in more proactive ways, so we have better documentation that we can offer people. It also allows us to share best practice.”
He adds: “I think the co-operative system is a perfect tool to help meet the needs of people affected by different types of disorders. At Kaleidos we care about patients with rare diseases and those affected by mental health difficulties, and the co-operative system is very compliant with both of these different needs. Being a co-operative helps us improve the quality of life of our patients.”
