January 15, 2024
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Moldova is among the poorest countries in Europe. Young people leave the country to seek employment abroad. Healthcare and social services face a shortage of workers to provide care for seniors and people with disabilities. Often, family members like Svetlana and Anatolli, both in their sixties, have to take care of their daughter Oksana. However, they are not alone, thanks to the services of the home care centre.
The home care centre provides outreach care for clients
37-year-old Oksana has been paralysed since childhood and moves only with the help of a wheelchair. Due to her health limitations, Oksana relies on the assistance of others, provided by her parents who are in retirement age and slowly losing their strength. Thanks to the services of the home care centre opened in Moldova by Caritas Czech Republic, financed by the Czech Development Agency, they are not alone.
Nurses and caregivers from the nearby St. Juliana centre regularly visit Oksana to provide the needed care. "We regularly visit clients with limited mobility at home. We bring a tablet with us, through which Oksana connects with doctors remotely, avoiding the need for complicated travel," explains Lucia, one of the caregivers who regularly visits Oksana.
However, the centre does not only provide medical services. "We help Oksana with hygiene. We regularly bring her to our centre in our wheelchair-accessible car. There, she has access to a shower, and we also cut her hair and do pedicures," describes Larisa, another caregiver at the centre.
The entire family uses the services of the St. Juliana centre
Not only Oksana, but also her parents use the centre's services. "I am under a lot of stress. My husband is in a similar situation. Cancer took our second daughter from us. Thanks to telemedicine, we can connect with specialists remotely and talk about our mental health. I have diabetes, and thanks to the tablet I have consultations with an endocrinologist," Svetlana says.
Elderly people in Moldova receive very low pensions, making it challenging for them to make ends meet at the end of the month. Svetlana and Anatolli, who care for their daughter's children after her death, are in a similar situation. "Caregivers regularly bring us hygiene products. We are very grateful for the care we receive because buying these necessities from our pension would be difficult. We also have the opportunity to use the laundry facilities directly at the centre, saving us a lot of money," Svetlana appreciatively states.
Home care centres provide health and social services to seniors
Caritas Czech Republic has opened 11 home care centres in Moldova. In addition to social support, these centres also provide healthcare services. Moldovan seniors find it financially challenging to afford doctor visits, especially when doctors often reside far from their place of residence. That is why we provide telemedicine services to people like Oksana, so they can use a tablet to connect with doctors and consult with them about their health. Telemedicine saves them a physically demanding and expensive trip to the hospital.
The local healthcare and social services system in Moldova is troubled by the emigration of workers abroad. At the same time, there is an increasing number of elderly people in need of assistance. Thanks to our initiative, a caregiver profession has been created in Moldova to relieve the overburdened system.
We provide home care centres and telemedicine services in Moldova thanks to financial support from the Czech Development Agency.
