<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
They are a real treasure, for some…but for other
\npeople, they are a real burden! A lot
\nof Romania’ s elderly is abandoned both by their families and society. To their
\ndespondency and loneliness, their worrying condition is being added. In most of
\nthe cases, their feeble condition marks their old age. Some of them need
\nmedical care at home, but their very modest incomes turn specialized medical
\ninto something beyond reach. For
\nthe elderly, who become less visible by the day, dignity is something that
\nneeds to be restored. That is exactly what the White-Yellow Foundation seeks to
\ndo. So periodically, physicians, trained nurses, social workers, kinesiotherapy
\nspecialists, psychologists or the sitters working for the Foundation come
\nknocking at doors that otherwise remain closed. M\u0103riuca Ivan is the president
\nof the White Yellow Cross Romania. For us, she opened up the door of their
\nFoundation, which is something she created following a Belgian model. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mariuca Ivan: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Belgian
\npartners came to the country 25 years ago, back in the day I had a job with the
\nHealthcare Ministry, they spoke very nicely about the concept of home care. We
\nwere trying to reshape the entire configuration of the system. In the first
\nyears after the Revolution, debates evolved around hospital care, much had been
\ndiscussed about the ambulatory later, then the family medicine was also
\ntackled…yet there was a morsel missing, from the big Healthcare cake, the home
\ncare. I did welcome the Belgian partners and I tried to give them my support,
\nas much as I could, for the development of that system in Romania. I gave up my
\njob at the Healthcare Ministry as I wanted to prove that was possible, despite
\nthe fact that I did not succeed at the institution! The Cross is a provider of home
\ncare services, it is accredited and licensed by the Romanian State, so it was
\nalso us, the White-Yellow Cross, who succeeded to yet again implement, in the national
\nlegislation, the concept of home care, a category of service which is financed
\nvia the National Health Insurance Fund. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The White-Yellow Cross offers a wide range of
\nservices, such as the administration of medicines, injections, perfusions,
\napplying a bandage, the measurement of physiological parameters, medical blood
\nsampling…to put it briefly, everything related to home care, as a desirable
\nalternative to being admitted to hospital…<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mariuca Ivan:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And that’s how it all began, for our
\nFoundation, by catering for the needs and the expectations of the people who
\nlive on limited means, financially or socially, and who are unable to look
\nafter themselves! Most of them were elderly people, with no family and
\nchildless. As of late, mostly, the situation has been getting worse because of
\nmigration, since there are parents who were left alone, with nobody to take
\ncare of them. For that, we tried to identify the social projects, we tried to
\nget funding from the central and the local administrations, for the patients
\nwith social problem, later on we tried to access European funds, but that kind
\nof money seems to be on the wane, gradually, the municipalities did not provide
\nthat much help either and withdrew their funds, so the elderly sort of belonged
\nto nobody! That moment, we decided to continue developing paid medical services
\nfor those who could afford that and who obviously were not social cases and we
\nkind of acted like outlaws, we took from those who could afford paying for the
\nservices we had on offer, and helped the others as well, for whom we did not
\nhave financing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In other words, the White Yellow Cross, despite all
\nthe hardships, did not abandon anyone, continuing the mission for which it was
\ncreated. For 25 years, since it has been set up, the Cross has been providing
\nhome medical care services for more than 24 thousand people. Even during the
\npandemic, so with an extra amount of effort, 40 representatives of the White
\nYellow Cross have provided medical assistance for around 700-800 patients. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mariuca Ivan:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Well, it’s been a
\nlong time since some of them have been with us, they’ve been with us five, six or ten
\nyears now. They live thanks to our help and
\nthanks to the fact that we opened up our doors for them. Actually, we’re the
\nonly ones doing that, and what we find behind the open doors are sad stories
\nthat impress us very much. I have just watched a recording with some of my
\nassistants speaking about some of our grannies who are no longer among us, we
\nknew they had nobody, and right after they were gone, on that very day, three
\nnephews popped up, God knows wherefrom. It is so sad such a story repeats, in
\nfact they have nobody, but after they are no longer among us, many people turn
\nup, who suddenly remembered they had to accompany them on their final journey.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the support of the vulnerable elderly, the White
\nYellow cross has developed the so-called Red Button. It is a project that
\ncrowns the Foundation’s entire work so far. We’re speaking about remote
\nassistance, a system which is complementary to the emergency one, enabling the
\nelderly to ask for help when most needed. By means of a bracelet, which is very
\nsimilar to a wristwatch, provided with a red panic button and which is
\nwirelessly connected to a large-button cell phone, patients can signal an emergency
\npushing that button. The signal is transmitted automatically to a
\nround-the-clock Dispatch centre. According to how serious the situation is,
\nthe dispatcher initiates a medical protocol, indicating the action that needs
\nto be taken, that including calling an ambulance.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the White Yellow Cross Romania Foundation team,
\nled by M\u0103riuca Ivan, putting a lot of life into everything they do, that is
\nsomething crucial.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With no emotional investment, with no
\nsoul, with no love, without determination, you cannot possibly offer quality
\nservices. Instead, as of late, I could feel that, I am even disappointed that
\nwe deteriorated in the fiber of our being, as humans, I can feel there is no sign
\nof goodwill, no empathy for the ailing ones. That is very sad for me, as a
\nformer pedagogue in that area of training people clad in white dressing gowns. You
\ncannot speak about sacrifice, about involvement, if you do that, you’re almost
\nrated as obsolete… It is so sad! That is
\nexactly why my team is so very special. We’re short of cash, and yet we’re so
\nrich! The moment we feel we’re hitting the bottom of the abyss, a good angel
\nappears, saving us, helping us, getting us out of there, taking our message for
\nus, our vocation and our mission. We do not come to work, as they say, we have
\na mission we carry through every day…The reward we get, that is in our souls, the
\njoy and the satisfaction people convey are the driving engine that helps us
\nkeep going! We are as somebody used to say, the good angel for those who need
\nus very, very badly and who do not have anybody to help them.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Pope Francisc, the elderly need to be
\ntreated with fondness, with gratitude and respect. The elderly people are an
\nessential part of society, they are the root and the memory of a nation. They
\nare an indispensable treasure, enabling us to look into the future, with hope
\nand responsibility.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translation by Eugen Nasta)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The whys and the wherefores of looking after Romania’s elderly people<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":143873,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43857,40045,39952,31935,39956],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-143872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-button","tag-care","tag-elderly","tag-emergency","tag-home"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n