|
by
Silvia Marangoni
|
|
HOME HELP
|
|
A Fight
against
institutionalisation
|
The desire of the elderly is to remain home in
the environment with which they are familiar. In the last 30
years we have worked for an entirely different alternative to
hospitalisation. The elderly who remain at home
live, heal and react better against sickness
and physical weakness. On the other hand, those who
are forced to be placed in an institution
show an increased deterioration both physically and psychologically, and even death
can result. Institutionalisation is a condemnation to
isolation that often takes away from the elderly a willingness to
live. In institutions the death rate for comparable
age groups is four times higher than for those
who remain at home. Elderly in institutions have great difficulty in coping
with detachment from their family environment, not only
from the people they love but also from the home
itself and the objects and memories that represent their life.
Often, they no longer find a motive
to live.Our service to the elderly, wherever in the world we provide it,
aims at guaranteeing and
protecting the right of the elderly to stay in its own living
quarters and to maintain their own sense of identity. Unfortunately, one
often observes that the elderly are completely deprived of
the possibility to express opinions or make decisions regarding their lives. The Community has therefore established a series of activities to
protect the elderly�s dignity and self-determination. This becomes
a necessary
and indispensable asset in order to accompany the
elderly through difficult and painful moments like sickness and
death, so they can live in a more human and dignified
way.
|
|
Respect
for Self-determination
|
|
Roma
- Italy
Sometimes elderly persons become suddenly non self-sufficient and it
is difficult to re-organise one�s life as they are
faced with new necessities requiring assistance for both the one who
is sick and their caretakers. Also the family that wants to
help an invalid family member finds itself unprepared, and does
not know where to turn or what financial resources
and services are available.
Faced with objective difficulties and
lacking necessary support to undertake
the re-organisation of one's family life, hospitalisation or institutionalisation
frequently appear as the only reasonable solution, even
if in the majority of cases this does not respect the elderly
person's desire to remain at home.
The
Community offers consultation, guidelines and sometimes concrete
help to allow the elderly to continue to live where
and how they desire.
more information |
|
Assistance
at home
|
|
Roma - Italy
The most conspicuous effort is made
towards offering assistance in the home to improve the
elderly person�s quality of life as a whole and to combat
hospitalisation.
During home visits which can be as frequent as needs require, the elderly person is helped
to solve problems of daily life, assisted with caring for
his physical needs, and helped in maintaining significant
social and sentimental relations.
more information
|
|
Vacations
|
|
Every year the Community organises vacation
periods for those who are not self-sufficient or who can not afford
to go on
holidays. The elderly enjoy this vacation period with members of the Community
with whom they have had stable relations throughout the
year.
These are
occasions of great familiarity.
|
Genova - Italy
|
|
|
|
