The Initiative Health Benefits are activities and programs that serve families whose members live far away from one another. The Initiative deals with the impact and consequences of illness and old age within families and the interactions between families and institutions!

The name of the Initiative, Health Benefits, literally means value added to health. It was formed in the first phase of the Initiative, when the focus was put on tourism and the related impact on health, i.e. on the value added to health in tourism.
The Initiative is dedicated to families whose members live far away from one another and their need to handle various situations that occur due to illness or incapacity. The Initiative does not deal with treatment, but serves to provide answers to the questions and issues arising in everyday life in connection with making arrangements for therapy and rehabilitation, cooking and washing services, financing, and assessment of work capacity.
If we were to picture life with an ill or elderly person as an iceberg, then treatment and medication would represent the visible tip of that iceberg, and everything else that awaits us once we leave the medical centers and hospitals would represent the invisible, larger part of the iceberg below the water surface!
So, by successfully handling those invisible life situations, we add value to health!

Overcoming the challenges of illness and old age isn’t easy for any family.
It is particularly demanding for families whose members live far away from one another.
The programs are based on the personal experiences of the founders of the Initiative, particularly those gained during the Covid pandemic.

• Inconsistent expectations, possibilities and requirements among family members living far away from one another.
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to provide care to family members who live far away.
• Restricted travel and limited access to health and other services.
• Overloaded health institutions and elderly care facilities, overworked employees.

When you live far away from your family, communicating about health, illness and old age takes on a whole new dimension. Discussing assets is a story in itself. In such situations, we ask ourselves what is it that matters:
Time? Power? Money?

The purpose of the Initiative is to ensure efficient communication about health, illness and old age in families whose members live far away from one another, and between such families and institutions!

• Safety in situations arising due to illness or old age.
• Maintaining independence and quality of everyday life in demanding situations!
• More optimum utilization of time, smart investments and conservation of strength.
• Goals oriented towards resource management (time, money, energy) are specifically defined for families, professional service providers and employers.

• Learning how to communicate with different professionals and institutions helps to understand situations. This provides safety and saves time.
• Maintaining activities in the community strengthens independence and self-confidence. This saves power and prevents burnout.
• Knowing how to adapt to demanding situations enables wise investments. Smart investment eliminates fears and preserves values.

• Getting to know the needs of clients/patients whose families live far away – reduces the time for individual intervention and decreases the frequency of visits!
• Joining a transdisciplinary and international (multilingual) network enables cooperation with colleagues abroad and participation in new jobs and projects.
• Using the Initiative’s infrastructure, technologies, and expert support increases the value of the work.

• Encouraging employees to use modern methods of caring for their families reduces the need for sick leave.
• Meeting the emotional needs of employees has a positive impact on their commitment to work! Participation in the Initiative makes the work process safer and more efficient.
• The support of employees in planning complex family needs leads to direct and indirect savings.

The innovative identity protection method (Havatar) allows the subscribers to choose the option to participate in communication completely anonymously.

The programs and projects envisaged under the Initiative are available both in online formats and in other formats executed at various locations in Austria and Croatia.
Subscribers can be located in any part of the world and their participation, i.e. use of contents, is not required.

Translations and interpretations ensure a level playing field for all participants to the Initiative, regardless of the knowledge of foreign languages!
In other words, you can pose a question in Croatian and read or listen to the answer provided by foreign professionals in Croatian as well.

Online and live communication channels allow a simple and quick access to our network and services of various professionals in more than 20 countries!

The first Health Benefits Initiative lasted four years, from 2016 until 2019.
The second research start in 2023 and will also last four years, until 2026.

The intention is to turn the Initiative’s programs into permanent activities.
An evaluation of the activities carried out will be performed every year.
We want to use the experiences gained from the programs envisaged under the Initiative to create independent programs.

Havatar is a word created as a combination of the words health (a person’s mental or physical condition) and avatar (a graphical representation of a user hiding his true identity applied in the IT world).
In preparing the second Health Benefits Initiative, we have devoted particular attention to the protection of personal information and identity of our subscribers.
Havatar is an e-mail address with the health-benefits domain which is generated once and exclusively for each user. It allows the user to log into all programs anonymously. Subscribers reveal their true identities only if they wish to do so.

The innovative identity protection method (Havatar) allows the subscribers to choose the option to participate in communication completely anonymously.

Our webpages are located on servers in Linz (World4You) and Salzburg (Easyname). Both companies have protection systems, and from 2013, when we started being active online in Austria, until today we have had no incidents whatsoever in the field of data protection. All our webpages integrate licensed software and protection programs which are updated daily.
All users of our webpages are subject to our Data Protection Policy. The subscribers who select the anonymity option may choose that their data be exclusively stored on an external hard disc kept in a safe.

A transdisciplinary approach is important because it allows various professionals to work on a single case/problem without even knowing each other, exchanging information or being familiar with the whole situation.
Example 1: You have fallen ill. Your diagnosis is made by a physician. Your bathroom and kitchen need remodeling because of your illness. If you are located abroad, a translator will translate your medical report. The translation is delivered to your insurance company by the post office. Your insurance company decides whether to approve your claim or not. A nurse makes a house call on you. You hire an architect to design the necessary adjustments. Various service providers perform the relevant adjustments. You go on living with your illness.
Each of the above-mentioned professionals does his part independently from others. Your diagnosis is not relevant for the work performed by the translator. Your physician has no interest in knowing how you will access your bathroom or cook. The insurance company does not care which or how many physicians have examined you. The various service providers working on your home adjustments do not need to know that you are ill at all.
Example 2: You have decided to take a vacation. The travel agency has provided you with the information regarding your travelling and accommodation arrangements, as well as regarding the offer of recreational activities and entertainment events in the destination. You and your friend select the clothes you will bring with you, or your mom packs your suitcase for you. The agency does not have the information about who has packed your clothes, and your mom does not always need to know where you’re going!

No. Subscription covers the use of contents in Croatian, German and English. Subscribers to regular programs can use any of the programs in any of the available languages.
Requests for special translations are possible, and will be approved or rejected according to the circumstances of the case.
The Organizer will not assume the obligation to post contents in all languages!

Translations and interpretations ensure a level playing field for all participants to the Initiative, regardless of the knowledge of foreign languages!
In other words, you can pose a question in Croatian and read or listen to the answer provided by foreign professionals in Croatian as well.

Online and live communication channels allow a simple and quick access to our network and services of various professionals in more than 20 countries!

Your subscription includes certain translation services. It is envisaged, however, that most jour-fixe gatherings be held in one language! If the introductory lecture is in a foreign language, we will try to provide translation in a suitable format.

Your subscription includes certain translation services. If a subscriber expresses an interest for a particular meeting or lecture held in a language he/she doesn’t understand, we will try to provide translation in a suitable format.

No. Although knowledge of foreign languages is desirable, it is not an eligibility requirement.

A transdisciplinary approach is important because it allows various professionals to work on a single case/problem without even knowing each other, exchanging information or being familiar with the whole situation.
Example 1: You have fallen ill. Your diagnosis is made by a physician. Your bathroom and kitchen need remodeling because of your illness. If you are located abroad, a translator will translate your medical report. The translation is delivered to your insurance company by the post office. Your insurance company decides whether to approve your claim or not. A nurse makes a house call on you. You hire an architect to design the necessary adjustments. Various service providers perform the relevant adjustments. You go on living with your illness.
Each of the above-mentioned professionals does his part independently from others. Your diagnosis is not relevant for the work performed by the translator. Your physician has no interest in knowing how you will access your bathroom or cook. The insurance company does not care which or how many physicians have examined you. The various service providers working on your home adjustments do not need to know that you are ill at all.
Example 2: You have decided to take a vacation. The travel agency has provided you with the information regarding your travelling and accommodation arrangements, as well as regarding the offer of recreational activities and entertainment events in the destination. You and your friend select the clothes you will bring with you, or your mom packs your suitcase for you. The agency does not have the information about who has packed your clothes, and your mom does not always need to know where you’re going!

• Safety in situations arising due to illness or old age.
• Maintaining independence and quality of everyday life in demanding situations!
• More optimum utilization of time, smart investments and conservation of strength.
• Goals oriented towards resource management (time, money, energy) are specifically defined for families, professional service providers and employers.

• Learning how to communicate with different professionals and institutions helps to understand situations. This provides safety and saves time.
• Maintaining activities in the community strengthens independence and self-confidence. This saves power and prevents burnout.
• Knowing how to adapt to demanding situations enables wise investments. Smart investment eliminates fears and preserves values.

• Getting to know the needs of clients/patients whose families live far away – reduces the time for individual intervention and decreases the frequency of visits!
• Joining a transdisciplinary and international (multilingual) network enables cooperation with colleagues abroad and participation in new jobs and projects.
• Using the Initiative’s infrastructure, technologies, and expert support increases the value of the work.

The Initiative serves to support families whose members live far away from one another and deals with the impact and consequences of illness and old age within families and the interactions between families and institutions!
Apart from the medical staff (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, lab workers, caretakers, etc.) and professions closely related to health (pharmacists, psychologists, nutritionists, etc.), real life includes numerous other professionals – translators/interpreters and mediators, tax advisors and accountants, architects/designers and engineers, service providers/handymen of various profiles, lawyers and notaries, social workers and public servants. Cleaning staff and neighbors who are at hand and ready to help are unjustifiably named at the end of the list. They, in fact, have a key role. We will therefore devote particular attention and program sections to them!
It is impossible to list all situations, i.e. all professionals for which the need may arise during one’s lifetime. We have no intention of providing a comprehensive list of professionals, but we will maintain on our website a list of professionals already within our network, and we will update it to include the newly hired ones.

Any adult person can choose to become a subscriber of their own free will, regardless of the place of residence or knowledge of foreign languages.
To become a subscriber, one must apply via this website and pay a fee defined for the program actively selected in the application process. The status of a subscriber is approved or revoked in accordance with the Health Benefits Initiative General Subscription Terms and Conditions.

An interested person must actively fill out the application form, choose freely, without coercion, one of the offered packages, and accept the statutory data protection provisions and terms of use of the website of the Organizer of the Initiative and his associates.
Fee payment is also one of the subscription requirements.
Subscribers are not required to use the subscription.

No. Subscription covers the use of contents in Croatian, German and English. Subscribers to regular programs can use any of the programs in any of the available languages.
Requests for special translations are possible, and will be approved or rejected according to the circumstances of the case.
The Organizer will not assume the obligation to post contents in all languages!

There is a statutory provision regulating the termination of relationships between the consumer and the seller. The subscription revenue is used exclusively to cover the costs of the Initiative, and all subscribers will be requested to refrain from seeking a refund of the fee paid.

Yes, in principle. If you have selected the subscription option allowing anonymous access (havatar), there are certain administrative and technical expenses that should be paid before the transfer.

A jour-fixe means a recurring meeting, i.e. a gathering of a group of people set to repeat regularly on a specific date.
The purpose of the jour-fixe gatherings organized within the framework of the Health Benefits Initiative is to maintain regular contact with and communication among the subscribers who share a common interest or feature.
Our jour-fixe gatherings will usually be related to a particular topic, location or a group of subscribers.

The jour-fixe schedule includes gatherings allowing a limited number of participants and those at which the number of participants is not limited. Possibilities of participation, including the number of participants, will be announced in advance. Different subscription packages come with different event access possibilities.

The number of events that you can attend depends on the selected subscription package.
It is possible to arrange participation beyond the package limit.

Your subscription includes certain translation services. It is envisaged, however, that most jour-fixe gatherings be held in one language! If the introductory lecture is in a foreign language, we will try to provide translation in a suitable format.

The categories and topics are defined within the 10 areas of activity covered by the Initiative. All Initiative participants are invited to propose topics!

Yes. For a topic proposal to be accepted and processed, the proponent must provide arguments for the need to cover the relevant topic and state the purpose of the proposal. The Organizer will not assume the obligation to realize all topic proposals.

Yes. The questions, however, must be posed anonymously to protect your privacy (havatar). The answers to individual questions will be included in the scope of a particular event format (a jour-fixe gathering or a meeting).
The Initiative is not a forum and does not envisage the creation of a database with individual questions and answers. The announcements are easy to follow, and you will know when to expect the answer to the question you posed.
The Organizer will not assume the obligation to answer all the questions posed!

Jour-fixe gatherings are organized on a regular basis and are attended, in principle, by the same group of participants. The purpose is to meet regularly and exchange opinions and ideas. Jour-fixe gatherings organized within the framework of the Health Benefits Initiative tend to include a small group of people, i.e. the number of participants is usually limited. It is an interactive event, i.e. all participants are allowed to join the discussion.
A meeting is not characterized by regularity. It can be a one-time or a recurring event. The purpose of a meeting is acquisition of new knowledge. The topics change and the number of participants is, in principle, unlimited. The meeting format depends on the number of participants. If the number of participants is large, such meeting is called a lecture. Although interactive participation is possible, it may be limited.

The categories and topics are defined within the 10 areas of activity covered by the Initiative. All Initiative participants are invited to propose topics!

Your subscription includes certain translation services. If a subscriber expresses an interest for a particular meeting or lecture held in a language he/she doesn’t understand, we will try to provide translation in a suitable format.

The schedule includes meetings/lectures allowing a limited number of participants and those at which the number of participants is not limited. Possibilities of participation, including the number of participants, will be announced in advance. Different subscription packages come with different event access possibilities.

Jour-fixe gatherings are organized on a regular basis and are attended, in principle, by the same group of participants. The purpose is to meet regularly and exchange opinions and ideas. Jour-fixe gatherings organized within the framework of the Health Benefits Initiative tend to include a small group of people, i.e. the number of participants is usually limited. It is an interactive event, i.e. all participants are allowed to join the discussion.
A meeting is not characterized by regularity. It can be a one-time or a recurring event. The purpose of a meeting is acquisition of new knowledge. The topics change and the number of participants is, in principle, unlimited. The meeting format depends on the number of participants. If the number of participants is large, such meeting is called a lecture. Although interactive participation is possible, it may be limited.

The number of events that you can attend depends on the selected subscription package.
It is possible to arrange participation beyond the package limit.

Yes. For a topic proposal to be accepted and processed, the proponent must provide arguments for the need to cover the relevant topic and state the purpose of the proposal. The Organizer will not assume the obligation to realize all topic proposals.

A transdisciplinary approach is important because it allows various professionals to work on a single case/problem without even knowing each other, exchanging information or being familiar with the whole situation.
Example 1: You have fallen ill. Your diagnosis is made by a physician. Your bathroom and kitchen need remodeling because of your illness. If you are located abroad, a translator will translate your medical report. The translation is delivered to your insurance company by the post office. Your insurance company decides whether to approve your claim or not. A nurse makes a house call on you. You hire an architect to design the necessary adjustments. Various service providers perform the relevant adjustments. You go on living with your illness.
Each of the above-mentioned professionals does his part independently from others. Your diagnosis is not relevant for the work performed by the translator. Your physician has no interest in knowing how you will access your bathroom or cook. The insurance company does not care which or how many physicians have examined you. The various service providers working on your home adjustments do not need to know that you are ill at all.
Example 2: You have decided to take a vacation. The travel agency has provided you with the information regarding your travelling and accommodation arrangements, as well as regarding the offer of recreational activities and entertainment events in the destination. You and your friend select the clothes you will bring with you, or your mom packs your suitcase for you. The agency does not have the information about who has packed your clothes, and your mom does not always need to know where you’re going!

Interdisciplinarity is an approach in which information is exchanged between professionals from two or more fields who are familiar with the whole situation.
Example 1: If you need to install holders on your bathroom walls, three professionals must work together: an architect, a physiotherapist and an engineer. The physiotherapist knows where the holders should be installed, the architect knows how firmly they should be installed, whereas the engineer knows how the holders should be installed depending on the surface.
Example 2: When you want to change the appearance of the area around your house, your landscape artist will tell you what would look nice and fit well into your yard and garden. The agronomist will tell you what plants can thrive in the soil found in your yard, and the agricultural pharmacist will advise you on substances you can use to improve the quality of the soil.

Multidisciplinarity is the exchange of information among professionals from various fields working together on a single problem.
Example 1: A tank containing a toxic substance has rolled over in a car accident. The police are regulating the traffic and the firefighters are clearing the place of the accident. Medical teams are checking the condition of the persons found near the place of the accident. Laboratory workers are analyzing the scope and type of contamination. Sanitary inspectors are prescribing protection and prevention measures. All of them know which toxic substance is in question and all of them are working to prevent the consequences of the accident.
Example 2: You have found yourself in a situation where your teeth need to be substituted by a prosthesis. If your teeth have not all fallen out, the dentist must pull them out. The dentist will assess whether your gums are ready to embrace the prosthesis and will make an impression. The dental technician will then make the prosthesis that you like and that functions well in the dental lab.

In the past 30 years of operation, the Organizer has cooperated with over 800 different business entities in various countries. The programs envisaged under the Initiative will initially be carried out in cooperation with the existing network of professionals with proven expertise.
In our daily activities we may come across other professionals that we may invite to join us – a kind of passive selection process.
If there are certain requests or questions to which we are unable to provide answers relying on our existing network, we will try and find other professionals within the limits of available resources.

The Initiative serves to support families whose members live far away from one another and deals with the impact and consequences of illness and old age within families and the interactions between families and institutions!
Apart from the medical staff (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, lab workers, caretakers, etc.) and professions closely related to health (pharmacists, psychologists, nutritionists, etc.), real life includes numerous other professionals – translators/interpreters and mediators, tax advisors and accountants, architects/designers and engineers, service providers/handymen of various profiles, lawyers and notaries, social workers and public servants. Cleaning staff and neighbors who are at hand and ready to help are unjustifiably named at the end of the list. They, in fact, have a key role. We will therefore devote particular attention and program sections to them!
It is impossible to list all situations, i.e. all professionals for which the need may arise during one’s lifetime. We have no intention of providing a comprehensive list of professionals, but we will maintain on our website a list of professionals already within our network, and we will update it to include the newly hired ones.

Linking Session is our response to overcrowded communication channels and hyper-production of specialist events. It is a hybrid of symposium and workshop, direct, interactive, efficient, concrete, practice-oriented and incredibly adaptable!

The Linking Session challenges connecting people from different countries with the same interests.

Linking Session aims to involve participants from various branches with one common denominator to create specific practical conclusions.
The focus of one Linking Session could be project development and optimization, strategy development, merging and acquisitions, risk management and quality assurance, human resources etc.

3-4 speakers give short statements as an impulse for further discussion in small groups (roundtables). These working groups are moderated by a group leader so that the focus stays on the theme and all participants get a chance to speak. It is a result-oriented exchange of views.
The results are collected, brought together and presented at the podium. The conclusion is a final plenary discussion with a recording of open issues.
All participants receive a summary of the results.

Talents are persons who independently contribute to the recognizability and development of the Initiative through their activities. Talents are expected to be innovative, independent and creative.
The type of activities performed by talents and the manner in which they are performed are not limited. However, they must be in line with the statutory and ethical standards of the country in which the relevant talents are active and may not harm the interests of the Organizers and the Initiative.

Moderators are persons who are able to independently organize and lead regular (jour-fixe) gatherings and meetings.
The moderators are not required to have professional experience in organizing or leading meetings. However, professional or personal experiences in some of the areas covered by the Initiative are welcome.

Based on the applications containing all the requested elements, the Organizer selects the candidates with satisfying experience, vision, proposals, and terms of operation. The selection process is not a competition and does not bind either party to make a deal or sign a contract. Where necessary in the process of selection, the Organizer will seek advice from the professionals with whom he cooperates.

No. Although knowledge of foreign languages is desirable, it is not an eligibility requirement.

If the candidates applying for the position of moderators or talents are employed, and their company or institution believes that their involvement in the activities performed in the framework of the Initiative is in their interest, the contract is signed with the relevant company or institution.
If the candidates applying for the position of moderators or talents are unemployed, attending university programs, retired, or have some other status (e.g. they are employed but want to do some part-time work in addition to their regular job), the legal form of cooperation to be arranged must be in line with the laws of the candidates’ tax residence country.

Moderators and talents can achieve income.

Yes. For a topic proposal to be accepted and processed, the proponent must provide arguments for the need to cover the relevant topic and state the purpose of the proposal. The Organizer will not assume the obligation to realize all topic proposals.

Yes. The questions, however, must be posed anonymously to protect your privacy (havatar). The answers to individual questions will be included in the scope of a particular event format (a jour-fixe gathering or a meeting).
The Initiative is not a forum and does not envisage the creation of a database with individual questions and answers. The announcements are easy to follow, and you will know when to expect the answer to the question you posed.
The Organizer will not assume the obligation to answer all the questions posed!

Online and live communication channels allow a simple and quick access to our network and services of various professionals in more than 20 countries!

The Initiative serves to support families whose members live far away from one another and deals with the impact and consequences of illness and old age within families and the interactions between families and institutions!
Apart from the medical staff (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, lab workers, caretakers, etc.) and professions closely related to health (pharmacists, psychologists, nutritionists, etc.), real life includes numerous other professionals – translators/interpreters and mediators, tax advisors and accountants, architects/designers and engineers, service providers/handymen of various profiles, lawyers and notaries, social workers and public servants. Cleaning staff and neighbors who are at hand and ready to help are unjustifiably named at the end of the list. They, in fact, have a key role. We will therefore devote particular attention and program sections to them!
It is impossible to list all situations, i.e. all professionals for which the need may arise during one’s lifetime. We have no intention of providing a comprehensive list of professionals, but we will maintain on our website a list of professionals already within our network, and we will update it to include the newly hired ones.

A transdisciplinary approach is important because it allows various professionals to work on a single case/problem without even knowing each other, exchanging information or being familiar with the whole situation.
Example 1: You have fallen ill. Your diagnosis is made by a physician. Your bathroom and kitchen need remodeling because of your illness. If you are located abroad, a translator will translate your medical report. The translation is delivered to your insurance company by the post office. Your insurance company decides whether to approve your claim or not. A nurse makes a house call on you. You hire an architect to design the necessary adjustments. Various service providers perform the relevant adjustments. You go on living with your illness.
Each of the above-mentioned professionals does his part independently from others. Your diagnosis is not relevant for the work performed by the translator. Your physician has no interest in knowing how you will access your bathroom or cook. The insurance company does not care which or how many physicians have examined you. The various service providers working on your home adjustments do not need to know that you are ill at all.
Example 2: You have decided to take a vacation. The travel agency has provided you with the information regarding your travelling and accommodation arrangements, as well as regarding the offer of recreational activities and entertainment events in the destination. You and your friend select the clothes you will bring with you, or your mom packs your suitcase for you. The agency does not have the information about who has packed your clothes, and your mom does not always need to know where you’re going!

The jour-fixe schedule includes gatherings allowing a limited number of participants and those at which the number of participants is not limited. Possibilities of participation, including the number of participants, will be announced in advance. Different subscription packages come with different event access possibilities.

A jour-fixe means a recurring meeting, i.e. a gathering of a group of people set to repeat regularly on a specific date.
The purpose of the jour-fixe gatherings organized within the framework of the Health Benefits Initiative is to maintain regular contact with and communication among the subscribers who share a common interest or feature.
Our jour-fixe gatherings will usually be related to a particular topic, location or a group of subscribers.

• Safety in situations arising due to illness or old age.
• Maintaining independence and quality of everyday life in demanding situations!
• More optimum utilization of time, smart investments and conservation of strength.
• Goals oriented towards resource management (time, money, energy) are specifically defined for families, professional service providers and employers.

• Learning how to communicate with different professionals and institutions helps to understand situations. This provides safety and saves time.
• Maintaining activities in the community strengthens independence and self-confidence. This saves power and prevents burnout.
• Knowing how to adapt to demanding situations enables wise investments. Smart investment eliminates fears and preserves values.

• Getting to know the needs of clients/patients whose families live far away – reduces the time for individual intervention and decreases the frequency of visits!
• Joining a transdisciplinary and international (multilingual) network enables cooperation with colleagues abroad and participation in new jobs and projects.
• Using the Initiative’s infrastructure, technologies, and expert support increases the value of the work.

• Providing modern care methods for family members who live far away – reduces the need to use sick leave.
• Participation in the Initiative – meeting the emotional needs of employees has a positive impact on their commitment to work! It makes the work process safer and more efficient.
• Assist in planning for the complex family needs of employees whose families live far away – direct and indirect savings are realized.

The programs and projects envisaged under the Initiative are available both in online formats and in other formats executed at various locations in Austria and Croatia.
Subscribers can be located in any part of the world and their participation, i.e. use of contents, is not required.