The World Health Organization recognizes art’s key role in health prevention, psychological support for managing chronic diseases, and improving quality of life.
Videoinsight® Foundation – ETS, in line with its mission of promoting care for physical and mental well-being, is excited to announce the launch of a new initiative dedicated to the integration of art and health: CAREGIVER. Open Call for Emerging Artists 2026.
Caring
Art connects the internal world and the external reality, acting as a powerful therapeutic tool for healing the soul. It plays an active role in health prevention. It activates cognitive, emotional, and social processes that can reduce anxiety, isolation, and depression. It strengthens self-esteem, elevates mood, reduces vulnerability, and promotes mental and physical well-being.
Through the Open Call, artists are invited to explore the concept of “care,” not only as a gesture of care, but as a human, social, and therapeutic attitude.
Art itself becomes a “Caregiver”: it welcomes, transforms, and regenerates.
Caring is an expression that encompasses a deeper meaning than simply “assisting” or “curing.” While “cure” refers to the technical and medical aspect of curing an illness, “to care” concerns the person as a whole; it presupposes presence (being there), listening, empathy, responsibility (taking charge), protection, and support.
Caring is not just performing tasks. It is an act of conscious presence. It means recognizing the other not as a “patient” or a “problem to be managed,” but as a person with a history, desires, and dignity that remain intact despite the illness.
Caring means “looking into the eyes,” identifying unexpressed needs: the fear behind a silence, the desire for normalcy behind a complaint. It is the ability to tune into the other’s state of mind without being overwhelmed, creating a safe space where the person being cared for still feels “seen.”
Caring means taking charge of the other’s world; it is an act of protection that aims to preserve the person’s remaining autonomy. Caring also means making difficult choices for those who can no longer make them, always acting in their best interests. There are two ways of Caring: replacing the other (“doing for”), as removing all burdensome tasks, but risking erasing the identity of the person receiving help; or standing alongside the other (“doing with”), helping the person do what they still can, supporting them where they cannot. This is the true heart of care: restoring power and dignity.
Caring is the art of staying. It is the patience to inhabit another’s time, which often slows down our own, and to transform a moment of fragility into a space of profound human connection.
Who is a Caregiver?
Caregiver, “he or she who provides care,” means fulfilling one of the noblest, most complex, and often invisible roles in our society. It doesn’t mean performing a task, but rather enacting a profound intertwining of practical assistance, emotional support, and constant dedication to another person. The Caregiver is the silent pillar that allows thousands of people to live with dignity despite illness, fragility, and loneliness. The role requires patience, courage and generosity; it deserves gratitude, rights and concrete support. The Caregiver’s life is the beating heart of self-help welfare; it is a constant balance between dedication and sacrifice. Caregivers, “family heroes”, are too often left alone.
Daily Challenges
The burden placed on Caregivers shoulders is not only physical, but above all psychological. The main challenges include: social isolation (Caregivers often give up their social life, hobbies, and sometimes even their careers to ensure their constant presence); emotional burden (managing a loved one’s physical or cognitive decline leads to anticipated and constant grief); physical fatigue (lifting, dressing, managing sleepless nights and medical emergencies); bureaucracy (navigating permits, benefits, and healthcare waiting lists is an added burden).
The Risk of “Burnout”
Many Caregivers fall into the trap of neglecting themselves, abandoning themselves to care for others, resulting in psychological and physical distress. “Burnout syndrome” manifests itself with exhaustion, feelings of over-responsibility, sadness, helplessness, irritability, anger, and guilt. These are the symptoms of Caregiver burnout: fatigue, difficulty concentrating, sleep, appetite, and mood problems, anxiety, psychosomatic disorders, weakened immune defenses, reduced self-care, social isolation, and depression. To care for someone else, you must first be able to feel good yourself.
Key Numbers and a profile of the Caregiver in Italy
In Italy, the number of Caregivers is impressive and reflects how our social welfare system relies almost entirely on families. According to the most recent data updated at the beginning of 2026, based on ISTAT and Censis surveys, the situation is as follows: 8 million people is the overall estimate of family Caregivers. This represents approximately 15% of the Italian population.
Over 70% are women, known as the “sandwich generation,” squeezed between caring for their children and their parents. The most affected age group is between 45 and 65, but approximately 17% are under 35 (so called Young Caregivers). Approximately 30% of Caregivers dedicate more than 20 hours a week to caregiving. Approximately 60% have had to change or leave their jobs to provide care.
Legislative Updates
Public debate is finally highlighting the need for legal and social security protections for Caregivers. Recognizing their value means ensuring psychological support, legal and financial protections, and “relief” services (facilities that temporarily house the patient to allow the caregiver to rest).
In January 2026, the Council of Ministers approved a new bill aimed at finally giving legal status to these professionals. The goal is to transform Caregivers from “volunteers out of necessity” to state-recognized individuals, with the introduction of social security and insurance benefits, bonuses and incentives for balancing work and life. In Italy, the economic value of the work performed unpaid by Caregivers has been estimated at tens of billions of euros each year; without them, the National Health System would risk immediate collapse.
Caregiver’s Disease
You can’t care for others authentically and lastingly unless you learn to care for yourself. The Caregiver who vanishes is no longer “caring”; he or she is consuming themselves.
The Caregiver’s paradox is that, in attempting to protect another’s health, they end up consuming their own. There is specific medical literature on this phenomenon, called “Caregiver’s Disease” or “Caregiver Burden.”
The Caregiver’s body and mind are subjected to chronic stress that alters normal biological processes. The main causes are: hypercortisolemia (constant stress maintains high levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which in the long run weakens the immune system); sleep deprivation (frequent nighttime interruptions impede physical and mental recovery); and self-neglect: the Caregiver tends to avoid medical appointments, eat irregularly, and stop exercising. Illnesses that affect Caregivers include psychosomatic and mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety (affecting between 40% and 70% of Caregivers); burnout syndrome (an emotional exhaustion that leads to detachment, irritability, and a sense of failure); chronic insomnia (difficulty falling asleep even when the Caregiver is resting, due to hypervigilance). Caregivers also develop physical conditions, such as musculoskeletal disorders (chronic back pain, hernias), cardiovascular diseases (hypertension is very common due to constant emotional tension), immune deficiency (Caregivers take longer to recover from flu or injuries). It is crucial to recognize the “warning signs” before they become chronic conditions: chronic fatigue, loss of interest in daily activities, disproportionate anger followed by strong feelings of guilt, difficulty concentrating, and memory lapses.
What can be done to support caregivers?
To support Caregivers it’s advisable to plan respite care (delegating care, even for just a few hours a week, to professionals or other family members); participate in self-help groups (conversing with others experiencing the same situation dramatically reduces feelings of isolation); experience art and culture (effective for relaxation, mental regeneration, and creativity development).
CAREGIVER. Open Call for Emerging Artists 2026
Requirements and Procedures for Participation
Participation is open to all artists who wish to explore the theme of “Care” through the language of art.
Artists are invited to submit original artworks on the theme of “CAREGIVER.”
Artwork Type: Paintings.
Maximum Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm.
Required Materials: High-resolution image of the artwork with full caption (title, technique, year, dimensions).
Submissions: Proposals must be sent by email to: rebecca.russo@fasv.it
Deadline
The deadline for submitting artworks is June 30, 2026.
Selection and Group Exhibition
All submitted artworks will be evaluated by a multidisciplinary jury. The selected works will be exhibited in the “CAREGIVER” exhibition, an event that will highlight the talent of the participants and the ability of art to foster psychological, physical, and social well-being. The time and location of the exhibition will be announced after the selection of the artworks.