The Open Polyclinic of Médecins du Monde in Athens operates with the main objective of providing primary health care as well as social and psychological support to people belonging to vulnerable social groups, such as the homeless, the poor, the uninsured, immigrants without administrative documents, refugees and any other person with limited or no access to the National Health System.
Volunteer doctors of almost all specialties, as well as dentists (internists, pediatricians, surgeons, gynecologists, dermatologists, cardiologists, ophthalmologists, orthopedists, radiologists, pulmonologists, ENT, psychiatrists, neurologists) provide primary medical and dental care. In addition, there is the possibility for patients to have free laboratory tests through referrals to partner institutions. After the patients have been seen by the doctors of the Polyclinic, they are given the necessary medicines.
Social Service
The Social Service aims to address the social problems and difficulties of both the people who are accommodated in the facilities of Médecins du Monde and those who are referred to it through the Open Polyclinics. More specifically, the Social Service undertakes the taking of social history (recording of social data and requests of those served), the provision of social support services, social counselling and support (informing those served about their rights and their possibilities for access to the public health and social assistance system) and information on education, training and vocational orientation.
Psychological Support Department
The Psychological Support Department consists of volunteer psychologists and aims to provide psychological support and counselling to vulnerable social groups in the context of a targeted and short-term (6 months to 12 months) intervention.
The Psychological Support Department is for people who are experiencing particularly difficult conditions on a daily basis in economic, social and psychological terms (unemployment, social isolation, clinical disorders) and are either uninsured or cannot cover their needs from the ever-shrinking community mental health facilities. They may also be migrants or refugees, asylum seekers, who have been confronted with adverse and often extreme events (torture, abductions, terrorist and racist attacks) and face serious difficulties in adapting. It is often necessary to refer and work with a psychiatrist.
In addition, the department collaborates with a child psychiatrist for the psychiatric evaluation and monitoring of children and adolescents with developmental disorders and learning difficulties, while family counselling is also provided.
The Open Polyclinic of Médecins du Monde in Athens operates mainly with the resources of the organization.
