Short Article - Journal of Aging and Geriatric Psychiatry (2019) Volume 3, Issue 2

Advocacy for Financial Support in Palliative Care

Adriana Caruntu

Archdiocese of Bucharest, St. Nectary Palliative Care Center, Romania

Abstract

At national level in Romania, but also at international level, palliative care needs financial support to support the existing activity and developed according to the needs of patients in each country.

Although it is a medical segment of vital importance to every people, in practice palliative care would need permanent support.

The patients' families say how difficult it was for them during this period when a family member needed palliative care, how much they were affected and that without the support of palliative care specialists they could not have overcome this stage of their life.

In every country there are fruit or vegetable farms, and sometimes these products are not sold, they break down, while palliative care services need this type of product.

There are large oil and financial companies, hotels, restaurants and companies that could help support palliative care. Some large companies are already involved, but choose the palliative care institutions / services they want to support, while another is not yet involved in this area.

This fact led me to propose the change of legislation at the international level in the financial field for those who support palliative care services in a country, benefiting from tax exemptions or tax facilities in addition to the amount it offers in the form of cash sponsorship or products.

The involvement of companies that currently have money is not at the level needed for palliative care, but the state's provision of certain fiscal / financial facilities can turn the current situation into a key, innovative solution to support care. palliative.

State institutions that provide settlement of palliative care services can not provide funding at the level required for this type of activity, but the involvement of state and private companies in the financial support of this sector would significantly contribute to providing quality palliative care services. and their development.

Palliative care ensures the control of pain and symptoms of patients with chronic diseases for which healing is no longer possible, can we imagine how much physical and emotional suffering these patients have, but also their families? We all have the right to health care, the right to life, and I would like to say that palliative care is an important part of a patient's life. It is important how a family member separates from us, we would all like to be without suffering, in decent conditions, not to be alone when the suffering is very great.

I have 14 years of experience in palliative care and I would like to tell you about a case I found out about at an international training course in palliative care in my first year of activity: a participant told how an oncology patient had some pain so severe before the end of his life that he tore all his hair out of his head even though he had received pain control treatment.

There are many possibilities to financially support the palliative care activity:

• food companies can donate 2 euros for a product sold.

• restaurants can deliver several portions of food or their cash equivalent.

• large hotels can offer in the form of sponsorship the money for a room rented to customers.

• those who have farms for animals, vegetables and fruits can donate a monthly amount of products.oil companies can support the palliative care activity at national level in a country by involving employees.

We all want a better world, to be treated with respect, with dignity, with attention, but for this each of us must contribute. The patients in palliative care are our parents and children, they represent to us as a nation the way we care for them and we are with them in the last years or days of life.

The change in international palliative care legislation to financially support this activity is intended to be passed on to all international organizations involved in palliative care, which fight for patients' rights, the right to life and to contribute significantly to the care of patients around the world.

Currently there are certain financial / fiscal facilities for companies that support social responsibility, they are involved in health projects, but there is no specific specification for palliative care services that need help.

We want to do well, but this requires more involvement, financial support from state and private institutions / companies.

The financial support of palliative care services has effects on the health of patients, family members but also of employees / specialists working in palliative care.For the members, the moment of separation from a family member through his death is traumatic, so we need support so that we make this separation and transition as painful as possible, to affect the other family members as little as possible.

There are cases of mothers dying of cancer, and surviving children need help to continue their studies, for food and clothing. For these dramatic situations, the financial support of the community is important.

The palliative care for children is not developed at an appropriate level in all countries of the world, there are several types of chronic conditions for which patients need palliative care and for which there are no established palliative care services.

The way we get involved in health now can bring long-term benefits to the health of the population.

At a meeting with a specialist in 2019, he told me: we have patients from a certain rural area that I treat for chronic diseases, but who return home and due to economic conditions end up getting sick again, health can worsen with palliative care services.

For this type of patients who are in a vulnerable situation and need help, it is good to intervene to maintain their health and life. That is why I invite you to send this message of advocacy to all institutions empowered to amend existing legislation and to involve all organizations to participate financially in supporting palliative care, quality in health and life.