Category: ATHENS

Continuing the Journey: Holistic Body and Mind Care with Kapa3 and the University of the Peloponnese

After the first round of meetings held in April (see the related article here), focusing on Nutritional Guidance and Experiential Psychological Support, Kapa3 and the University of the Peloponnese continue their collaboration with a new series of experiential workshops dedicated to the holistic care of body and mind.

The meetings are open to people living with cancer, caregivers, and healthcare professionals — to anyone seeking a space for genuine communication, understanding, and empowerment.

In this new cycle, mental health and nutrition are approached as two sides of the same care.

In the mental health sessions, participants learn to recognize and manage challenging emotions such as anxiety or fear, strengthen their resilience, and cultivate a deeper connection with themselves and others.

At the same time, the nutrition sessions explore how balanced and mindful eating can support the body, enhance energy and mood, and become an act of self-care and self-respect. Food is not only a necessity but also a way to show love — to the body, the soul, and to life itself.

The meetings are held online and are based on dialogue, experiential learning, and the sharing of personal experiences. Everyone participates at their own pace, in a warm environment of acceptance and trust.

To express your interest: Registration Form for the Support Group for People with Cancer

Text/adaptation: Ifiyenia for Kapa3

Palliative Care in Cancer: Ensuring Quality of Life Alongside Treatment

Palliative Care in Cancer: Ensuring Quality of Life Alongside Treatment

The editorial underlines the vital role of palliative care in cancer management. While advances in oncology have improved survival, many patients still face significant physical, emotional, and social challenges. Palliative care focuses on relieving symptoms such as pain, fatigue, and anxiety, while also supporting families and caregivers.

Research shows that early integration of palliative care improves patients’ quality of life, helps them tolerate demanding treatments, and even extends survival in some cases. It also facilitates better communication between patients and healthcare providers and reduces unnecessary hospitalizations and costs.

Despite this evidence, palliative care remains underused, often mistaken for end-of-life care only. In Greece, until recently it was not formally part of the National Health System, and existing services remain limited. However, the 2022 legal framework and the position paper of the Hellenic Society of Medical Oncology stress the urgent need for wider integration, more training for oncologists, and stronger policy support.

Ultimately, oncology success should not be measured only in survival rates but also in ensuring dignity, comfort, and holistic support for patients throughout their journey.

Read more care

CANCER MAY CONTROL YOUR BODY FOR A WHILE, BUT ΝΟΤ YOUR SOUL…

We dreamed it, we organized it and we finally accomplished it!

Kapa3, always thinking and implementing actions whose main priority and beneficiaries are the patients with cancer, overcoming barriers, social, economic, and social and cultural characteristics! Cancer has no gender, no country, no color, no religion!!!

The team of Kapa3 could not ignore the challenges and needs of people who are forced to leave their countries of origin and, having the problems of their disease out of their priorities, put themselves in danger, crossing the borders of our country, hoping for a better and safer future.

Thus, studying the needs of these people, the group of professionals of KAPA3, being active and present in the wider region of Macedonia and Thrace, submitted a proposal for the implementation of actions in these areas, targeting the refugees and migrants of the region.

With great pleasure, we received the response of the King Baudouin Foundation, which recognized in this proposal our vision and approved funding to support and develop the Cancer Patient Guidance Centre-Kapa3, to provide immediate assistance to refugees and migrants crossing the borders of our country.

Together we can achieve the impossible! Looking cancer in the eye and fighting every day together, is a small but important battle for life, against cancer!

More specifically: The development of the existing network, the addition of mental health professionals, and the development of actions and activities in new places, with new partners, will allow us to help much more in the process of better and more complete treatment of the incidents and difficulties we face.

With funding from the King Baudouin Foundation, over the next 6 months, we will strengthen our network of psychologists, sociologists, and social workers, with a focus on the 15-24 age group, to continue providing primary care and support throughout their treatment. Part of the funding will be used to translate the Kapa3 online portal into at least two languages, in addition to English, with Ukrainian being the first, so that our citizen’s accessibility to any portal of the Public Health System is immediate and seamless.

The Organization has a website and an app where it provides general support and information as well as personalized support to each beneficiary. The staffing of the network with permanent personnel will become the basis for the successful targeting, which is, No One Feels Alone! The activation of psychological support for patients, the categorization of patients by age and the activation of actions to solve additional problems related to each of these age groups are some of the actions that we are ready to take to support these vulnerable groups!

We are well aware that the Greek health system and the support of medical care for cancer patients provided mainly in the country’s public hospitals, given high care costs and economic conditions, are not chosen by a significant number of patients, mainly immigrants, and refugees. The fact that Kapa3 operates in the structures and departments of hospitals that exclusively support cancer patients allows us to be able to record cases and extract qualitative and quantitative data and results to improve and create new actions in this direction.

Our vision has inspired and found support beyond borders! Cancer can control the body of patients for a while, but the soul, which strengthens the power in the battle with cancer, cannot be controlled!!!

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Kapa3 – Social Message for Public Awareness and Education on Cancer

The Kapa3’s social message for public awareness and education on cancer has gone viral! A powerful message that captures the attention of thousands of citizens daily on social media.

Continuing its successful effort to raise public awareness about the importance of social support and its impact on managing chronic illnesses, Kapa3 created a television and radio spot emphasizing the need for timely and appropriate social support from the right people—especially in an era where globalization and rapid lifestyle changes pose major challenges to healthcare professionals and the community in cancer management.

The spot, titled “Think of a Word That Starts with K”, engages and captivates thousands of citizens daily, with its reach steadily growing. This multifaceted social message was posted online as part of a campaign created by Kapa3 to inform and raise awareness. The message has already surpassed 100,000 views, reinforcing Kapa3’s mission: social support and guidance for cancer patients navigating the challenging path of their illness.

This initiative is a strong call to social responsibility, encouraging everyone to actively participate in the ongoing effort to support healthcare services, improve cancer patients’ quality of life, promote prevention principles, engage the public in health management, reduce human and financial costs, and highlight civil society as a positive driver for public-benefit actions.

A key prerequisite for all this is the establishment of a strong, supportive social, institutional, and legal framework that safeguards patients’ fundamental right to a life free from stereotypes and discrimination.

Notably, the spot, produced with a focus on promoting public health and social support, was approved by the Greek National Council for Radio and Television (ESR). Following the approval of its Special Three-Member Committee for Social Messages (Decision 207-09.11.2023), the spot was authorized for free broadcast on television and radio stations nationwide from December 1 to December 31, 2023.

The campaign was made possible thanks to the unwavering support of friends, partners, volunteers, and Kapa3 members under the guidance of A3, and has been promoted across Greece and online through the organization’s initiatives.

We are sharing it with you online so that it can be featured by local media, spreading the message that “Not only Cancer Starts with K, but also everything that can defeat it”, leading the way in public education and awareness.

According to Mattson (2011), building on definitions by Albrecht & Adelman (1987) and Gottlieb (2000), social support is defined as “a transactional, communicative process involving verbal and non-verbal interaction aimed at enhancing an individual’s perception of their ability to manage their problem, self-esteem, and sense of belonging.”

We sincerely thank you for your positive response and support.

Evangelí Bista
Head of Development and Operations, Kapa3
PhD(c), MBA, MSc, BSc
Mobile: +30 697 410 2934

New modern facilities of the non-profit organization KAPA3

With immense joy and pride, we announce that the non-profit organization Kapa3, with a mission to offer to people suffering from Cancer, will continue the creative and productive work from the new, modern offices at 13 Kostis Palamas Street, Athens.

Το ΚΑΠΑ3, is an organization that aims to support and inform people suffering from cancer, and their families, regarding their accessibility to the beneficial provisions of the current legislation, as well as the utilization of existing structures and services that operate for this purpose throughout the Greek territory. The organization and the members of the organization believe that people with cancer and their families should have access to accurate information at the time they need it. The organization’s website and the free kapa3 app (available on smartphone, tablet, Android, and iOS), operate as a guide to specific Rights and Benefits.

Improving the quality of life for Cancer patients is a top priority for the Kapa3 organization. A team of professionals supports patients in all procedural matters outside and inside the hospitals. The measurement of social impact had excellent results with 91% of patients stating that the presence of the service was instrumental in making their daily life easier.

The Movable Groups operate from the Theagenio Cancer Hospital of Thessaloniki and the University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, covering the region of Macedonia – Thrace and beyond, while their aim is to improve the quality of life of oncology patients and to provide new prospects for social integration, social protection, and employment. Soon we will be able to announce new “Information and Management” groups.

The Movable Units started their work with the foundational donation of TIMA Public Benefit Foundation https://www.timafoundation.org/el/ which supports Greek non-profit organizations that contribute to social improvement with a focus on the Elderly.

Kapa3, in three years of operation, has employed more than 15 people, while it has been the first preference in the choice of graduates of social support professionals, in the context of their internship, resulting in the strengthening of the action groups and its network, with more than 25 students. In addition, it has proceeded to establish collaborations with Universities in Northern Greece and beyond, as well as with Research Laboratories of Medical Departments of Universities in the country and abroad, in an effort to improve and scientifically approach and document activities and services provided to cancer patients throughout the country..

On the basis of the activation of the organization’s new offices and according to the needs of its beneficiaries and employees, another step is taken to encourage the development and expansion of the organization’s network, through proper cooperation, flexibility, empowerment, trust, and equality. “The beneficiaries and partners of the organization find support at all levels and thus are encouraged to be the best version of themselves in an environment that is built based on the vision and mission of the organization”, said by, Ms. Bista Evangeli, Development and Operations Manager of Kapa3.“In an environment where each of us feels cared of, supported, and connected, with a strong sense of ownership, the organization’s growth is taken for granted,” she added.

In addition, Ms. Bista emphasized that the organization’s new offices are made possible with the valuable support of the company “THENAMARIS” which she thanked for its valuable assistance.

“The contribution to our community is at the forefront for the company, leaving a strong, continuous, and positive social footprint that meets the specific features and needs of Greek society. Moreover, the ability to respond to challenges, to anticipate and adapt to the “seas and storms” is a warranty of viability for us and an important partner in the work and contribution of Kapa3“, Ms. Bista concluded.