July 11, 2014
Moldova
Last year, Caritas Czech Republic helped open two home care centres in the north of Moldova. In addition to the basic building and equipment, it was also necessary to secure enough trained health workers, which would not be possible without the significant participation of local volunteers.
The participation of volunteers in Moldova is still in its infancy and a lot of organizations do not know how to motivate volunteers to take part in the organizations’ activities. In this regard, the HomeCare Association, with which Caritas Czech Republic cooperates on a long-term basis, is innovative. Volunteer training has taken place in two centres in the cities Balti and Taul, and volunteer training continues. The training includes providing background about the provision of home care services, what obstacles the staff and the centres may face as well as a simulation of situations in which paramedics deal directly with patients.
The trained volunteers help patients primarily with getting dressed, bathing, hair care, cooking, shopping, emotional support (which involves mainly talking with the patient), accompanying them on walks, and helping with washing and ironing. Volunteers help in day centres as well as in patients’ homes.
Within the internships, volunteers may visit selected centres of home care and get acquainted with the activities and duties of the Estera day centre in Chisinau, Hippocrates in the village Dorotskaia and Avicenna in Cahul. They learn how to assist the medical staff in day centres. They also have the opportunity to exchange experiences among themselves and with those volunteers who have been helping for longer periods.
Volunteer coordinators meet with staff regularly and help organize joint leisure events. They also suggest other activities supporting the involvement of volunteers in home care services, such as roundtables and debates about volunteering, exhibitions of thematic photographs, a street campaign or the creation of information materials about volunteering.
Caritas Czech Republic covers the training cost of 106 volunteers and provision of study internships for 30 volunteers from the project Development of Home Care Services in the North of Moldova from 2013 to 2015, funded by the Czech Development Agency.
