MEAPP project
The MEAPP research project is planning and developing the Northeim District Assistance Portal.
MEAPP is a German acronym for "Multilingual and accessible digital assistance portal to support care communities".
The project is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMBF) from October 2023 to April 2026.
The project seeks to improve participation in society for people with disabilities. Although people with disabilities are legally entitled to assistance, it is often difficult to find suitable offers of support.
The goal of MEAPP is to remove three obstacles:
- There are many legal regulations in the care and assistance sector. These are often complicated and difficult to understand. There are few sources of information.
- There are too few care workers and assistants.
- Sometimes those affected and family caregivers do not take advantage of assistance services because they do not want to let unknown assistants into their homes. Or they find the application process too difficult and time-consuming.
MEAPP is, therefore, developing and testing three modules:
1. Informational website on assistance and care services
Many people are unaware of their entitlement to support services. The website provides information about care and assistance.
It provides a list of regional contact partners and explains how to finance assistance.
2. Digital portal for arranging assistance
A barrier-free and multilingual placement portal is being developed for the district of Northeim. Those looking for assistance and those offering assistance can register here.
They enter their needs and offers. If there is a match, the providers and seekers are notified of the “match” and can arrange to meet and chat with each other on the portal and get to know each other.
A public campaign is being carried out in the district of Northeim to attract more assistants.
3. Digital assistance and digital meeting place for care communities
Those seeking and offering assistance can meet on the portal, make arrangements, and discuss matters via video or voice chat. Some assistance services can also be provided digitally, e.g., homework help or advice from peers and other experts. The MEAPP project is testing whether assistance can also be done digitally. We are investigating “digital assistance” as a new form of providing simple assistance services.
The MEAPP project is a co-op project. It is being carried out by three project partners: Pro Inklusion e.V. in the district of Northeim, Helferportal GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, and Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg.
The project is assisted by a local “quality circle” (QC). This consists of people who require assistance, family caregivers, and representatives of the regional care network. The QC meets every three months. At the meetings, individual steps of the project are discussed.
The results of the project are tried out, tested, and evaluated. Anyone interested in the MEAPP project can take part in the trial. They give their feedback on the information website. They also test the placement portal.