In the Red Cross of Pirot, on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, three focus group interviews were organised as part of the activities in the project "Addressing and preventing care needs through innovative community care centres (I-CCC)", which is co-financed by the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency. The aim of the focus group interviews was to map services and assess the needs for long-term care services in Pirot. Special attention in mapping services is paid to informal caregivers and the need to improve their skills related to providing care on the one hand, and on the other hand to develop services that will enable them to have a break during care (“respite services”).

The first focus group consisted of informal caregivers, 10 of them, who, in addition to mapping services, especially emphasized the need for psychosocial support, and in some cases psychotherapeutic support for people who take care of their loved ones. The participants of the second focus group were older persons from Pirot, who emphasized the importance of patronage services, but also the need to make information about existing services more accessible to older persons and their families. The third group consisted of representatives of institutions and civil society organizations in the community as well as the local government: representatives of the centre for social welfare, health centre, nursing home, Red Cross and local government who pointed out that they have good cooperation in among themselves but that it is necessary to further develop services in the community, which is an important plan for the future.