The purpose of the project, whose implementation will be for a period of 36 months, is to improve the quality of life of children with limited life expectancy by opening the first hospice unit from Romania, entirely dedicated to pediatric palliative care.
The Hospice will be built in Bacau, will serve the north-east region of Romania, the poorest region in the country and will create 30 new jobs. Through this center we will be able to provide palliative care and counseling of up to 428 beneficiaries, children and their families each month.
Bacău, July 2015
PRESS RELEASE
Asociatia Lumina in partnership with Velux Foundations, offers ,, A chance to Dignity ” to children diagnosed with incurable diseases, by building the first fully dedicated pediatric palliative care center in Romania.
The purpose of the project, whose implementation will be for a period of 36 months, is to improve the quality of life of children with limited life expectancy by opening the first hospice unit from Romania, entirely dedicated to pediatric palliative care.
The Hospice will be built in Bacau, will serve the north-east region of Romania, the poorest region in the country and will create 30 new jobs. Through this center we will be able to provide palliative care and counseling of up to 428 beneficiaries, children and their families each month.
Project objectives:
- Opening in Romania, in Bacau County, the first unit beds, hospice, dedicated exclusively to pediatric palliative care.
- Providing quality palliative care services, suitable for a number of up to 428 patients every month, in the north-eastern Romania.
- Scroll to the North-east of an information campaign for at least 100 family physicians about providing palliative care services for children and providing information about palliative care, the children’s families.
In Romania, children diagnosed with an incurable disease can not benefit from specialized palliative care services in state medical system, such services being practically nonexistent in the pediatric wards of hospitals. Moreover, in Romania there are no statistics on the exact number of children who would need this type of service, in this moment, in Romania, less than 6% of all patients diagnosed with an incurable illness, receiving palliative care . Children diagnosed with an incurable disease experience pain caused by disease, more than 70% of them suffering severe pain at a time. The suffering caused by illness press as a huge burden on children and their families. Children become anxious and develops fear of pain / suffering that awaits them, afraid to hospital and medical staff. They can become irritable with emotions ranging from terror, depression and loneliness. Parents and other family members feel anger, depression and feel guilty for failure to help their child.
The total project value is 1.5 million euro, 80% of the funding 1,200,000 euro, beeing offered by Velux Foundation from Denmark.
,, Because we offer pediatric palliative care and that requests from families were increasing steadily, in the beggining of 2014, we decided it was time to take the next step. Building a unit with beds where to hospitalize children diagnosed with an incurable disease and are at the last stage of life.
In meeting of our plans, came an announcement from the Velux Foundations, Denmark, announcing that they had decided to provide funding for projects in Romania. That was the begining of a ,, trip ” to what will be the first project of its kind in Romania. We put our proposal in a letter of intent that received a response two weeks later and we have send the detailed project. In March 2015 at exactly 1 year after submitting our proposal, after complex assessments, Velux Foundations decided to respond positively and giving us the maximum amount, 1,200,000 euros for building construction and operation for 2 years.
Bacau City Council offered us free of charge, the land on which the building is to be built and we are proud that in maximum 45-60 days, we put the first brick and begin construction of the new hospice!
Because it is the only project of its kind in the country, we want the whole community to join us and prove that together we can change things for the better! “- Mihaela Dumitrache, Executive Director, Asociatia Lumina
About Asociatia Lumina:
We provide palliative care services at home, in the northeast region of Romania for over 14 years. Mihaela Dumitrache, project manager, has 20 years experience in healthcare. She is trainer in palliative care and she has completed the experience in the UK, at Hospice St. Christopher London, the first hospice in the world.
We operate in two locations:
Casa Lumina at Comăneşti where the registered office, residential center, medical, which provides constant care for 22 young people with severe disabilities, degree (permanent care, ongoing project since 2000).
Hospice Casa Albert, Luncani, Mărgineni , county of Bacau (15 km from Bacau):
– Mobile multidisciplinary team that provides home care to 128 patients each month. (Ongoing project since 2007).
– Day Centre ,, Albert “- 2 times / week for children and young people diagnosed with incurable diseases. The center’s activities are organized in the premises of Luncani Hospice Casa Albert, 15 km from Bacau, where the secondary office of the association. Every week, 45 children and youth participate in the activities center and 198 monthly family members (parents and brothers / sisters) are provided counseling services. (Ongoing project since 2009).
In 2008-2012, we made 150 specialists, nurses in palliative care and today we have an ongoing educational project that addresses social professionals, a project through which we form 300 specialists.
The main financier of the association is the Foundation Cry in the Dark, U.K. (www.cryinthedark.org ), and established foundation of Asociatia Lumina in 1999.
Information about Velux Foundations
Velux Foundations consist of Villum Foundation and VELUX Foundation. Both foundations are non-profit foundation created by Villum Kann Rasmussen, VELUX founder of the VKR Group and other entities whose mission is to bring daylight, fresh air and a better environment in everyday life of people.
Mara Matei
Coordinator P. R. / Fundraiser