May 13, 2024
News
Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. People of working age often leave abroad to seek for jobs. Social and health care services face a shortage of staff who can provide care for the elderly people and others in need, like 44-year-old Mihai. Caritas Czech Republic opened home care centres across the country to provide vulnerable people with the care they need.
Mihai was left alone in Moldova
Mihai has been paralysed since a very young age. Originally from Ukraine, he and his mother moved to Moldova when he was 3 years old. His mother later died of cancer and his relatives stayed in Ukraine. Mihai lives alone in a small house in the northern Moldovan town of Balti. Nurse Vera from the St. Rebeca Home Care Centre visits him regularly. This is one of 11 home care centres opened in the country by Caritas Czech Republic.
"I or one of my colleagues stop by Mihai's three times a week; if there is something urgent, he calls us and we come. He also gets help from a social worker from the local town and from his friend Seriyoza. So he often has some company here," says Vera, who also takes care of other patients.
The centre provides health and social care for people like Mihai
Vera carries a tablet with her on visits, which allows Mihai to connect with doctors from the comfort of his home. Because of his paralysis, hospital visits would be very complicated for him. "What I enjoy most is consulting with a psychologist. I really like to talk," says Mihai, who also enjoys spending time outside in the small garden in front of his house and composing poems.
When the weather is nice, Vera or her colleagues spend time with Mihai in the garden as well. In addition to medical procedures and telemedicine, staff from St. Rebeca's provide social services to Mihai. "I am so grateful for the help. I receive a very small pension for my disability, and I wouldn't be able to afford to pay for this kind of care," Mihai says thankfully.
Home care centres provide health and social care to people in Moldova
Caritas Czech Republic has opened 11 home care centres in Moldova. In addition to social support, these centres also provide health services. Moldovan seniors find it difficult to make ends meet, and it is especially costly for them to check up with doctors, who are often located far from where they live. That is why we provide telemedicine services to people like Mihai, so they can use a tablet to connect with doctors and consult with them about their health conditions. Telemedicine thus saves them a physically demanding and expensive trip to the hospital.
The local health and social services system is plagued by an outflow of workers abroad. At the same time, there are more and more seniors who need this help. Thanks to our initiative, a home care profession has been created in Moldova to relieve the overburdened system.
We provide home care centres and telemedicine services to Moldovan seniors thanks to financial support from the Czech Development Agency.
