Main partner: ING Bank România
The home treatment program for children with cancer is a Dăruiește Aripi project; mixed teams of the association and medical staff from the pediatric onco-hematology departments travel to the homes of children with oncological conditions to carry out the procedures in the treatment plan that can be performed at home, in safe conditions, under the coordination of the attending physician. The project aims to increase accessibility to free medical services for sick children, especially for those from disadvantaged rural areas.
Where? București, Constanța, Tulcea, llfov, Prahova, Călărași, Giurgiu, Dâmbovița, Ialomița și Teleorman.
Objectives:
- Increasing the survival rate of children with serious illnesses in Romania
- Increasing the quality of life of children undergoing treatment and survivors (counseling for lifestyle, financial help for cases of extreme social deprivation), emotional support and psychological comfort (they are cared for by medical staff they know from the hospital);
Why is this project needed?
Pediatric cancer is an illness that requires an average of two years of specialist treatment in successive cures and then, for survivors, strict monitoring for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, once outside out of the pediatric onco-hematology departments, patients and their families face the total lack of expertise and availability of proximity medical services e.g. for monitoring, solving intercurrent health problems or terminal assistance in hopeless cases.
The young patients are required to travel countless times, even hundreds of kilometers, to the Pediatric Oncology wards where they are treated, which means high costs for the family, psychological stress for the children and their exposure to risks (especially infectious). Loss to follow-up is a big problem in Romanian pediatric oncology, where no clinic has active monitoring procedures for this purpose. Our program covers this need and proposes a model of proximity care that shifts the focus from the Hospital to the Patient and the Community.
Our innovative vision is to create a continuum of care for children with cancer and other serious illnesses, wherever they are, and at any moment in the evolution of the disease. This approach has been validated by expert forums e.g. The European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as an imperative to provide alternatives for children to receive medical care under safety conditions.
IMPACT
- 0 cases lost to follow-up or with treatment abandonment (ma ajor problem in pediatric oncology);
- Increasing compliance to doctor’s recommendations and proper family care skills. Removing the significant financial burden of trips to and from the hospital for the families;
- Palliative care provided at home for terminal patients (only 9% of these needs are covered in Romania);
- The development of a new paradigm in the assistance of children with serious illnesses through specialized services offered in the community/athome, urgently needed including in the context of the challenges brought by COVID-19 to traditional hospital-based healthcare models;
- The development of procedures and protocols for the follow-up of the pediatric cancer patient – precursor for the development of a long-term survivor monitoring system and an essential element in the reconfiguration of the pediatric oncology network, according to European standards;
- Development of multidisciplinary cooperation and case management skills for pediatric oncology (strictly necessary concept, yet completely absent in Romania)
What next
We want to take this model to the national level, so that it covers a wider range of needs, to the highest standards with the participation of all pediatric oncology centers in the country.
We want to develop and obtain the recognition of this model as an optimal alternative to conventional hospitalization, for the safe coverage of specific care needs of children with cancer (intra-/post therapeutic monitoring, administration of therapies, nursing, and palliation).
Not last, this model will create a network of proximity resources for long-term monitoring and support of pediatric cancer survivors and for children/youth with other serious illnesses.
In March 2018, the project was initiated in Constanta with funding from the “Adopt a project – 2017” program by ING Bank România.
In August 2022, we also extended the project to Bucharest and to the counties of Ilfov, Prahova, Călărași, Giurgiu, Dâmbovița, Ialomița and Teleorman, again with the support of funding from the “Adopt a project – 2021” program of by ING Bank România.
The necessary fuel for travelling to the homes of the children in the program was provided with support from Rompetrol.
Synevo România supports the project by settling the cost for the blood tests collected in this program.
Year 2018 2019 2020 2021 TOTAL Investments (lei) 82,719.63 200,190.14 384.525,10
472.769,63 1,140,204.50 Gratuities Synevo 15,000.00 42,000.00 42,000.00 40,411 139,411.00 Gratuities Rompetrol 4,542.43 8,195 12,737.43 Value 97,719.63 242,190.14 431.067,53 450,505.63 1,221,482.93 aprox. 249.000 euro Partners: Constanta Clinical County Hospital
NUMBERS IN THE PROJECT
| Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Visits | 170 | 172 | 314 |
| Kilometers covered | 10.519 | 11.717 | 21.701 |
| Analysis taken | 721 | 1.287 | 1.332 |
| Human resources | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Volunteers | 12 | 16 | 28 |
THE TEAM who deliver the programe in Dobrogea
Dr. Adriana Apostol – onco-hematology and pediatric rheumatology specialist, coordinator
Dr. Mădălina Oniceanu – pediatric onco-hematology specialist
Dr. Andrada Vârlan – palliative care specialist
Ștefania Stroe – medical assistant
Marieta Paraschiv – medical assistant
Seman Mujdaba – medical assistant
Vasilica Rugină – medical assistant
Liliana Țibrea – social worker
Ana Maria Toma – transport coordinator and community assistant
Violeta Florea – assistant coordinator
Nadia Marin – nurse
THE TEAM who deliver the programe in Muntenia
Prof. Dr. Monica Desiree Dragomir – pediatric oncology specialist
Dr. Codruta Comșa – pediatric oncology and palliative care specialist
Dr. Monika Bădoi – pediatric oncology specialist
Dr. Alexandra Neaga – pediatric onco-hematology specialist
Drăgan Andreea – project manager
Eftene Gianina – medical assistant
Nastase Daniela – medical assistant
Giurgea Cristiana – medical assistant
Olar Irina – medical assistant
Măgeanu Săndica – medical assistant
Mîțu Daniela – medical assistant
Nita Elisabeta – psychologist
