A thousand members and as many as 80 volunteers always ready to lend themselves to Mano Amica, both in the sector of spiritual closeness to the sick without the possibility of recovery and of the skilled “workforce” to make the Hospice more and more cared for and pleasant, and for the needs of home patients who need aids or other. In 25 years of activity, the association, currently chaired by Paolo Biacoli, has always made itself available to the Ulss to support the company, with investments aimed at the purchase of useful equipment, training and reinforcements in the medical and nursing staff . But also to suggest and agree on the choices of the future in palliative care, choices that have anticipated the times with respect to general programming and that have qualified and confirmed themselves as a model to be exported.
THE PAST
The choice of Ulss Dolomiti 25 years ago to involve Mano Amica volunteers alongside its staff was a happy one, the president said. «From 2018 a training program was launched for the staff of the RSA and of the structures for the elderly of Feltrino and the Community of Primiero and, starting from 2020, in agreement with the Order of Doctors and with the Mano Amica and Cucchini associations of Belluno , the first courses for the training of general practitioners with a particular interest in palliative care have been activated», explains Biacoli.
«The result of all this is a precious service for the sick and their families. For this we must be grateful to all the health and social workers, to our volunteers and to all the people close to Mano Amica who have supported us over the years, starting with the general managers who have taken turns»
THE FUTURE
There are many and complex projects underway. There are home care and hospice: “The characteristics of our territory require us to continue on the path traced, that is to say: assistance for the sick in their own home, be it at home or in the Service Centers for the Elderly, with an always greater involvement of family doctors», continues the president Biacoli. «The population of Feltrino and Primiero is in fact distributed over a very large mountain area (1200 square kilometres), with only one hospital. It must be said that on the same flat surface there are 6 hospitals. This justifies the priority commitment on this side of the Mano Amica volunteers alongside and in support of the Ulss Dolomiti staff, also in synergy with other mountain realities”.
On the pediatric front, Mano Amica will continue to financially support the project that the Ulss Dolomiti is carrying out with the Padua hospital, the Città della Speranza and the Ail to accredit the Feltre hospital as a provincial reference for children with serious pathologies. «This and other projects were able to start thanks to Maria Sanvido’s legacy, and to the sensitivity for Palliative Care of her executor, Loris Paoletti», the president is keen to recall.
The resumption of the “Ali Aperte” mutual aid group is very important, a branch of Mano Amica’s activity whose absence was felt during the pandemic, for sharing and mourning with the support of qualified professionals.
HELPING HAND IN THE “HOUSES” OF THE ELDERLY
Since 2018, Mano Amica’s commitment on this front has been strong and continuous, both for the training of the operators of these structures, and for financing the construction of hospice-type rooms where there are none, such as those of Feltre and Cesiomaggiore. And at the December conference in Feltre, the final moment of the training course in the field that the Ulss 1 Dolomiti company organized involving all the Service Centers of the Feltre district was sanctioned.
RAISING CITIZENSHIP AWARENESS
«Since 1997, the involvement of citizens has been a desired choice by both President Bortoli and Enrico Gaz», says Biacoli. «The rooting of Mano Amica in the territory is a need that we will strive to pursue in the future as well, trying to overcome the inevitable difficulties that the pandemic has created, through the most diverse initiatives: from the Forums in November to meetings with citizens on the law 219 (biotestament). An illuminating example was the intervention of the presidents who preceded me, Francesco Bortoli and Enrico Gaz, for the approval of the regional law which established in 2009 the right to palliative care extended to all citizens. A team effort that involved the political forces and associations of the entire province of Belluno».
the gift to citizenship
Enraptured by the admirable harmony of Artifizio Armonico, a baroque vocal and instrumental ensemble directed by Deniel Perer, the public was able to enjoy a great concert offered by Mano Amica on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the association. But Vivaldi’s sonatas, masterfully performed by a capella voices and musical instruments, were counterpointed by a motif, re-launched to the public by the volunteers of the association that takes care of patients with no possibility of recovery: “there is so much to do.. .when there’s nothing left to do”.laura milan