- The home care program is celebrating its one-year anniversary in September.
- The services provided by the “Dăruiește Aripi” Association are free of charge.
- September is internationally recognized as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Bucharest, September 5, 2023
In partnership with the Bucharest Oncology Institute (IOB), the “Dăruiește Aripi” Association offers free medical care at home to children with cancer, ensuring maximum safety under the supervision of the attending physician.
Currently, the program includes 69 children, many from disadvantaged communities, from Bucharest and 7 neighboring counties: Ilfov, Prahova, Călărași, Giurgiu, Dâmbovița, Ialomița, and Teleorman. The youngest patient is one year and two months old.
One year after the launch of this program, the medical staff has conducted 376 home visits, collected 583 analyses, and traveled over 15,000 kilometers between the hospital and the children’s homes. These visits mean more days spent at home by the children and fewer hours on the road. Additionally, the home visit program reduces the financial burden on their families.
The services offered by “Dăruiește Aripi” include the evaluation and monitoring between chemotherapy sessions, sample collection, administration of supportive therapies, psychological counseling, quality of life assessment, training family members to care for the young patients, and palliative care.
The founder and president of the “Dăruiește Aripi” Association, Alina Pătrăhău, said, “My greatest joy is that we have always found solutions and resources to visit all the little patients who need it. In Romania, there are only 13 pediatric oncology centers, clustered in 8 counties. Children with cancer are everywhere, in many small towns and villages. We want all children in the country to benefit from this program.”
The project team consists of 4 doctors and 6 nurses, personnel from IOB, medical staff familiar to the children. The team also includes a public health expert, a psychologist, a dispatch coordinator, and a female driver.
Andreea Drăgan, a mother of a cancer survivor child and the coordinator of the dispatch organized by the “Dăruiește Aripi” Association at IOB, said, “The home treatment program greatly helps these children. One day spent at home instead of in the hospital brings peace of mind to them and their parents. When the hospital nurse comes home, everything seems easier, including when the little ones have to return to the hospital. The results of the tests collected through our program allow doctors to precisely plan the course of chemotherapy.”
In the near future, “Dăruiește Aripi” aims to develop similar partnerships with the Fundeni Clinical Institute and the Emergency Children’s Clinic “Marie Curie.”