Loreta Rasute Rezgiene
Siauliai Hospital, Cancer Clinic
Lithuania
Fundraising for cancer patients’ palliative care
Background
Palliative care is an important public health issue due to population ageing. Attention to the ageing population‘s complex needs is insufficient in Lithuania and in almost all other Eastern European countries. Palliative care services in Lithuania are at an initial stage. There are more and more patients requiring palliative care either in hospices or at home provided by mobile teams. Funding for palliative care is insufficient and it does not cover the demand for this service at all. Siauliai Palliative Care Center was established in April 2015 and started providing palliative care services as a mobile palliative care team.
Objectives
Fundraising for cancer patients‘ palliative care. To create and implement 5 permanent fundraising projects, 5 short term fundraising projects, to create 5 permanent ideas for future fundraising projects.
Methods
The first task is to set up a qualified team of professionals from different professional areas. The prime role in this team belongs not to palliative care professionals, but to generators of ideas and event planers. Creating and implementing fundraising tools needs cooperation with many areas ofsociety: entertainments and theaters dedicated to fundraising, lotteries, art exhibitions, palliative care charity shops and other events have to be attractive for the community. The most important thing is to promote community awareness in palliative care, promote sensibility to terminaly ill patients and volunteering.
Results
Collected funds will be used for cancer patients’ palliative care in Siauliai City, in Lithuania.