Hilma – Support Center for Immigrant People with Disabilities and long-term Illnesses
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Why is it a good practice of the Person-Centered Model?
Specialized project that offers coordination and counseling to immigrant people with disabilities or chronic diseases, in order to guarantee their access to adequate services and promote their social inclusion. It has become a reference resource in Finland to meet the specific needs of this group.
Person-centered approach: Promotes equity and active participation of immigrant people with disabilities through personalized care, support in administrative procedures, coordination with public and community services, and strengthening of self-determination capacity.
Integrated Assessment (Person, Family, Housing) and Life History
Hilma does not carry out a medical or clinical assessment of individuals in the traditional sense. Instead, it offers guidance, information and support at a social and administrative level, tailored to each person’s situation as immigrant + disabled. When a person contacts Hilma, they receive help navigating services, understanding their rights and accessing social support — including translation or interpreter assistance if needed. The centre recognises that life context, migration history, social status, language barriers and disability intersect, and its support starts from acknowledging all these dimensions together. In that sense, Hilma’s “assessment” is holistic: it considers the person’s background as immigrant, their disability or illness, their access to services and their needs in the new society.
Personalised Care and Support Plan for the Life Project
Although Hilma does not provide clinical care itself, it helps each person design a “support path” adapted to their needs and context. Through counselling and guidance, Hilma assists immigrants with disabilities in applying for social services, benefits, rehabilitation, accessibility aids, and in organising their daily life in Finland. The support is flexible and adapts to each individual’s situation: language, type of disability, family or social network, and personal aspirations. Thus, Hilma facilitates an individualised plan for inclusion, social participation and autonomy in their new environment — enabling each person to build their life project with dignity.
Support groups
Hilma organises peer-support groups and group activities for immigrants with disabilities and their families. These group sessions (in-person or online) offer a space for sharing experiences, information, peer advice and community support. Through these groups individuals often overcome isolation, gain psychosocial support, exchange knowledge about rights and services, and build connections with others facing similar challenges. This community dimension enhances inclusion beyond administrative support, fostering solidarity, shared learning and empowerment.
Case Management and Resource Coordinator
Hilma acts as a resource coordinator at institutional and social-service level. It offers information about services and rights, helps with application processes, supports form-filling, guides individuals through the social welfare system, and liaises with authorities or other service providers on behalf of immigrants with disabilities. In effect, Hilma plays the role of a “navigator” or “case coordinator”: making the complex network of social services in Finland accessible and understandable, facilitating access to benefits, rehabilitation, support devices, social welfare, and ensuring that people with disabilities and immigrant backgrounds are not left out of the support system.
Highlined results
Has improved access to essential resources and services, offering individualized and adapted responses to each person. Its work has contributed to a fairer social integration, reducing barriers and promoting inclusion in Finnish community.
Inspiring ideas for other enviorments. It can works! 😉
Hilma shows that combining disability support with immigrant integration can be done effectively through a dedicated inclusion centre. Its model — offering multilingual guidance, interpreter services, peer support, social-rights orientation, resource coordination — could be adapted in other countries with immigrant populations and welfare systems. By recognising the double vulnerability (disability + immigrant condition), Hilma demonstrates that tailored, holistic, culturally-sensitive support structures can significantly improve access to rights, social participation and quality of life. This approach proves that inclusive support can go beyond universal services if specific efforts are made for minority and vulnerable groups.
Other observations
Hilma