Independent Living Pathway for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: From Supported Living to CityHome

Saint Lazarus Centre for Adults with Disabilities (Kentro AmeA “Agios Lazaros”) – OID: E10045250 is a long-established community-based organisation in Larnaca, Cyprus, supporting adults with intellectual disabilities through Day Services, Vocational Rehabilitation and Supported Living.

This Project Cooperation entry is linked to Horizon Europe Cluster 2 – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society, especially the destination “Innovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations”. It is particularly relevant to topics addressing long-term care, demographic change, social inclusion, skills development, disability inclusion, deinstitutionalisation, accessibility, family support and community-based service transformation.

Relevant Cluster 2 Work Programme 2026–2027 topics include:
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-09 – Rethinking long-term care policy in the face of EU demographic shifts;
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-02 – Open topic: Strengthen Europe’s social model and sustainable competitiveness through productivity;
HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-05 – Contribution of basic skills to productivity, innovation, competitiveness and economic growth;
HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-07 – Persons with disabilities.

Our strategic vision is to develop a modern, rights-based and evidence-informed Independent Living Pathway for adults with intellectual disabilities. This pathway would connect Day Services, vocational and life skills development, supported living, more autonomous living, family support and community participation in a structured and measurable way.

The Centre already operates a Supported Living service and is planning its further development as part of a broader community-based model. At the same time, we are exploring the transformation of an existing property owned by the Centre into a small-scale, non-institutional city home for more autonomous supported/independent living. This concept, which we refer to as “CityHome”, would provide a real-life urban setting where adults with intellectual disabilities who have developed sufficient self-care, daily living and social participation skills can move towards greater autonomy, while remaining connected to appropriate support.

A key innovation need is the creation of a practical, ethical and person-centred assessment and decision-support framework. Such a framework could help determine the level of support each person needs by assessing daily living skills, self-care, communication, decision-making, money management, mobility, household routines, community participation, self-confidence, risk awareness, support needs and quality of life.

Importantly, the model should also work in the opposite direction. As adults with intellectual disabilities age, or when health, safety, emotional, behavioural or functional needs increase, the pathway should allow a person to move from more autonomous living back to a higher-support setting without stigma or failure. In this way, independent living is understood not as a one-way transition, but as a flexible lifelong support pathway based on changing needs, dignity, safety and personal development.

Why this is relevant to Cluster 2:
Many adults with intellectual disabilities are living longer, while families and caregivers are ageing and community services face increasing complexity. There is a need for new models that combine deinstitutionalisation, independent living, long-term care, safeguarding, skills development, family relief, accessibility, digital evidence and community-based support. This concept can contribute to social innovation and to the transformation of Europe’s social model by testing practical solutions in real-life community settings.

What we offer:
Saint Lazarus Centre can contribute as a real-life community Living Lab, pilot site, end-user organisation and implementation partner. We offer direct access to adults with intellectual disabilities, families, professionals and local stakeholders. We can support co-creation, user needs analysis, piloting of assessment tools and support models, accessibility and usability feedback, qualitative evaluation, stakeholder engagement, dissemination and social impact demonstration.

What we are looking for:
We are looking to join a Horizon Europe Cluster 2 consortium as a partner, not as coordinator. We are particularly interested in consortia preparing proposals on independent living, supported living, long-term care, ageing and disability, deinstitutionalisation, skills assessment, family support, accessibility, social innovation and community-based service transformation.