“It is not a moral question, science tells us: the relationship is a cure for the patient. This is why visits to the elderly or the sick must be allowed. Even in a pandemic”.
Covid-19, the forgotten frailty of our elderly has sent the health system into a tailspin
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Mirko Damasco is the president of Salvagente Italia, an association that deals with the dissemination of pediatric and adult first aid. For some time it has been promoting a battle against the ban on visiting the sick and the elderly in hospitals and RSAs. On 29 January a protest took place in front of the San Gerardo hospital in Monza.
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“Now we are organizing an online conference where to present testimonies and experiences of structures that have never closed visits, in order to share their protocols. Then we want to prepare a national demonstration in Rome”. The protest was joined by relatives of patients and elderly people from other regions, such as Liguria and Piedmont. Also present were the members of Anchises, a family committee present throughout the national territory set up for the purpose of guaranteeing and supervising the right to health, assistance and sociality of guests in the RSA and the rights of workers. “We weren’t very many, but we were all motivated, and we won’t stop,” Damascus said.
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The battle unfolds on various fronts. Online, on the Change.org platform, the petition “We want the possibility for the relatives of the hospitalized and for the fathers to enter the hospital” has almost reached the limit of 30,000 signatures. Damascus launched it by addressing it to Prime Minister Draghi, Minister of Health Roberto Speranza and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
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“I am convinced of this from what I know, after ten years of dealing with the topic of visits to relatives in hospital – he explains -. Certainly in the first phase, hospitals had to protect themselves and protect themselves by excluding visits from relatives. Not now. Now not. Now, no. it is a choice. Now they have had plenty of time to organize themselves. Now, many wards “use” this situation to keep away what in the common mentality is only a source of disturbance: the relative. Humanly, patients do not need to doctors and nurses, they need the people they love. And those who work in the hospital, and have a huge heart, should stop the ball flowing on the inclined plane. Having a relative next to you is a right, not a favor “.
Take care of our elders
by Vincenzo Paglia
Among the regions that have introduced new restrictions in this area is Valle d’Aosta. On January 26, President Erik Lavevaz signed an ordinance that effectively isolates the elderly again in the structures: until February 28, no access for visitors and exit for guests in all public and private micro-communities and RSAs in the Valley . The decision was made “on the basis of a request received from the Health and Health and Social Policy Departments, after a discussion with the Local Health Authority of the Aosta Valley and with the managing bodies of the residential structures, in consideration of the evolution of the scenario epidemiological and new national provisions “.
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The goal is not to saturate the only hospital in the region. Only “the outings for health purposes and those concerning the rehabilitation and educational paths that are the basis of the residency conditions in the structures themselves” are saved. Massimo Liffredo, coordinator of the Père Laurent retirement home in Aosta, about a hundred elderly guests: “Even if it is part of a safety strategy, it is a heavy measure from a psychological and relational point of view, both for our elderly guests both for their loved ones “.
With the fourth wave of the pandemic and the third dose of the Covid vaccine, the fear of new outbreaks in the most fragile places remains strong. But it is “unacceptable” to isolate people from loved ones, just in time of need. Also because “there are facts to explain how useless it is – says the president of Salvagente -. It is widely documented that despite the closures, patients in hospitals or the elderly in retirement homes are positivized and this is because the operators bring the virus. It is absolutely not a fault, it is a fact. This should make it clear that between operators with the mask and the third dose of vaccine and the relatives with the mask and the third dose of vaccine there is no difference “.
The intervention
“Covid, we need to assist at home, we have been doing it for 40 years”
by Raffaella Pannuti
Damascus is the spokesperson for the problem, ready to try to resolve situations throughout the country: “That relative, left alone in that hospital is the relative of all of us. And we all unite against that garrison, RSA, Rsd, delivery room that leaves him alone. Protesting, doing sit-ins, flooding with emails, suing, until you open. Hospital by hospital, garrison by garrison. So: write to us. We will take care of that hospital. “