Bridging Occupational Gaps with Refugees and Asylum Seekers

04/02/2026

💙 Free Occupational Therapy services for members of the Cyprus Rheumatism Association (CyPLAR)
The European University Cyprus, in collaboration with CyPLAR, offers free Occupational Therapy services to members of the Association.
🧩 Assessment of daily functioning
🏠 Support for independent living & employment
🛠 Training in the use of assistive equipment
👥 Individual & group sessions
🏡 Home-based sessions when needed
📅 Start date: 16/2/2026
🕘 Monday & Friday | 09:00–14:00
📍 CyPLAR premises, Nicosia
📌 Expression of interest until: 6/2/2026
📞 99 486584 | 📧 ot.annashak@gmail.com
💙 At CyPLAR, functionality and quality of life are a priority.

💙 Δωρεάν Υπηρεσίες Εργοθεραπείας για τα μέλη του ΣΥΡΕΚ
Το Ευρωπαϊκό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, σε συνεργασία με τον ΣΥΡΕΚ, προσφέρει δωρεάν υπηρεσίες Εργοθεραπείας στα μέλη του Συνδέσμου.
🧩 Αξιολόγηση καθημερινής λειτουργικότητας
🏠 Υποστήριξη για ανεξάρτητη διαβίωση & εργασία
🛠 Εκπαίδευση στη χρήση βοηθητικού εξοπλισμού
👥 Ατομικές & ομαδικές συνεδρίες
🏡 Κατ’ οίκον συνεδρίες όπου χρειάζεται
📅 Έναρξη: 16/2/2026
🕘 Δευτέρα & Παρασκευή | 09:00–14:00
📍 Οίκημα ΣΥΡΕΚ Λευκωσία
📌 Δήλωση ενδιαφέροντος έως 6/2/2026
📞 99 486584 | 📧 ot.annashak@gmail.com
💙 Στον ΣΥΡΕΚ, η λειτουργικότητα και η ποιότητα ζωής είναι προτεραιότητα.
#ΣΥΡΕΚ #Εργοθεραπεία #ΔωρεάνΥπηρεσίες #Ρευματοπάθειες #Λειτουργικότητα #Υποστήριξη

10/12/2025

A big thank-you to our amazing hosts! This May, we’ll gather to explore how co-created, contextually and systemically informed occupational therapy interventions can promote meaningful participation for displaced persons and support their engagement in everyday life in the host community. 💜

21/10/2025

This is what female empowerment sometimes looks like! A group of teenage girls fully engaged and proud to create something meaningful; today, their own lip balm from scratch. A small win, but one that carries big meaning! 🩷

16/10/2025

Young children at the camp became chefs, mixing, serving, laughing, imagining and discovering that participation in cooking activities can be food for the soul, as well!
Through play, they nourished the deep need we all share: to lead meaningful lives, even in uncertain places. 💛
A big thank you to Sofia Orfanidou .sof_, our wonderful occupational therapy student, for co-creating this joyful moment!

02/10/2025

Pathway to Wellness

Ένα δωρεάν, βιωματικό πρόγραμμα προαγωγής υγείας διάρκειας 9 εβδομάδων (1 ώρα/εβδομάδα), σχεδιασμένο για ενήλικες που θέλουν να διαχειριστούν το βάρος τους και να αναπτύξουν νέες συνήθειες και ρουτίνες που υποστηρίζουν τη σωματική και ψυχική υγεία και ευεξία.
Καλλιέργεια ενός πιο δραστήριου τρόπου ζωής Δημιουργία συνηθειών που ενισχύουν ισορροπημένη διατροφική συμπεριφορά Διαμόρφωση ισορροπημένων ρουτινών εργασίας, ελεύθερου χρόνου, αυτοφροντίδας Καθοδήγηση και στήριξη από υποστηρικτικό δίκτυο ατόμων

📅 Έναρξη επόμενου κύκλου: Δευτέρα 13 Οκτωβρίου
💻 Online – χωρίς κόστος συμμετοχής

Το πρόγραμμα προσφέρεται από την Κλινική «Lifestyle Shaping» του προγράμματος Εργοθεραπείας του Ευρωπαϊκού Πανεπιστημίου Κύπρου.

Για δήλωση συμμετοχής ή περισσότερες πληροφορίες, στείλτε μας μήνυμα στο Facebook ή συμπληρώστε τον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=L1oWcg7p3E6sRKng2RzvMlYIZssagO1HvQJEypOKMIBUQVBGSjBURzU5SUNGTkQwNjFBOE5IQ1pNNS4u

23/09/2025

In the refugee camp, a group of women meets with occupational therapists to craft toys for their children. This is more than making objects, it is participation in meaningful occupations that nurture agency, connection, and hope. Through creativity and care, the women support their children in a context where resources are scarce, while also reclaiming the power of doing things together. 🩷🙌

23/09/2025

Our good friends and colleagues in Brazil presented our collaboration at the Brazilian National Seminar for Research in Occupational Therapy. They shared how Social Occupational Therapy, grounded in a historical-materialist and dialectical perspective in pediatric and forced displacement contexts, can transform occupational therapy practices.

These insights resonate strongly with our work in the Bridging project, where we have been reflecting on how we can reshape the way we view our own contribution, our clients’ place, and the ways we connect, coexist and co-create through occupations. At the same time we have been asking ourselves questions about how we can approach meaning-making, choices, language, intentionality, and awareness using our strengths while also moving beyond the limitations that our histories or contexts may impose.

13/07/2025

Are you a Recognized Refugee, Subsidiary Protection Holder, or Temporary Protection Holder (Ukrainian citizen) interested in studying in Cyprus but unable to afford tuition fees?

Cyprus Refugee Council is gathering expressions of interest from individuals in these categories who wish to pursue studies in Cyprus.

Learn more and fill out the form to express your interest: https://www.helprefugeeswork.org/en/content/university-scholarships-2025-declaration-interest

13/07/2025

Exciting news! Our abstracts have been accepted for the WFOT 2026 Congress in Thailand. Our work shows how meaningful change can start small and ripple outward. We are grateful for this opportunity to share our work on a global stage, along with our valued collaborators from around the world and motivated OT students, who share our vision and strengthen our work. We hope to see you in Bangkok, connect and exchange ideas on these urgent and relevant themes! 🩷 🇹🇭

⭐️Occupation-centered interventions to enhance participation in everyday activities for refugee children: a systematic review. (oral presentation)
Psychouli, P., Louta, I., Christodoulou, C., Andreou, E., Louka, M., Panayiotou, E.

⭐️Emancipatory Social Occupational Therapy in a forced displacement context: collaboration between Brazil and Cyprus. (poster presentation)
Godoy-Vieira, A., Louta, I., Christodoulou, C., Psychouli, P., Malfitano, APS.

⭐️Play participation of displaced youth: exploring influencing factors in a refugee reception center in Cyprus. (poster presentation)
Salisbury, K., Louta, I., Christodoulou. C., Psychouli, P.

07/07/2025

Therapy often happens around a shared meal, in the quiet dignity of a gesture, in laughter between languages, in the courage to trust, to welcome, to be welcomed. 🩷🌈

Our work is not just about education or health, it’s about living our values. 🫰🙌

20/06/2025

The Bridging Occupational Gaps program has been more than a project, it has been a space where people like Aya from Syria, Ioulia and Aris from Greece, Constantina, Ivoni, and Efrosini from Cyprus, Celien and Jarne from Belgium, and Ana from Spain come together united by the common belief that social change begins in relationships, in dignity, and in co-creating possibilities for a more just and inclusive world. 🫶✌️

17/06/2025

🌿✨ Reflecting on a powerful gathering ✨🌿

As part of the First Scientific Two-day Occupational Therapy event by the European University Cyprus and the UNHCR Cyprus World Refugee Day 2025 events, we had the honor of hosting the scientific workshop “Co-creation and Interprofessional Collaboration in Occupational Therapy with Refugees and Asylum Seekers”.

Over the course of two hours, something deeply meaningful unfolded, stories were shared, connections were made, and new ways of working together were explored.

Occupational therapists and members of the displaced community explored how collaborative, participatory approaches can help create more inclusive, empowering, and just systems of support.

We are especially grateful to:

🌸 Workshop facilitators, Ioulia Louta, coordinator of the Bridging Occupational Gaps with Refugees and Asylum Seekers project and Constantina Christodoulou, clinical supervisor.
🗣 Zenaida Onoufriou from UNHCR Cyprus, for grounding our conversation in the realities of international protection and human rights advocacy.
🧡 Irene Che, who brought powerful insight from within the refugee community, reminding us what lived experience teaches.
🌱 The participants of the Bridging Occupational Gaps with refugees and Asylum Seekers project, whose reflections on their journeys with occupational therapy left us both inspired and challenged to do better.

This workshop reminded us that meaningful change happens when we listen deeply, act collaboratively, and approach each other with openness and humility. As occupational therapists, we are called not only to support daily living but to co-create futures grounded in dignity and belonging.

Thank you to everyone who participated, shared, and held space for one another.
Let this be the beginning of more dialogue, solidarity, and co-created action. 💫

A heartfelt thank you also to the occupational therapy students and volunteers who supported the workshop with care, creativity, and compassion. 💛