With the financial aid of the Czech Development Agency, Caritas Czech Republic has been working for years on the development of a long-term care service focused on the social and medical needs of children with severe disabilities in state care. The support provided since 2017 envisaged the provision for Zhvania’s Children’s Hospital with necessary medical equipment, elaboration of the package of regulatory documentation for the arrangement of the long-term care system, and capacity-building trainings for the medical personnel across the whole country. With the final donation with a total budget of 150 000 USD, the children’s hospital can now provide appropriate services and relief the conditions of children with severe disabilities.
The donation will importantly change the conditions of children under the state care
In June, 2023, within the framework of the Czech Development Agency-supported project “Establishment of Children’s Long-term and Palliative Care Services in Georgia”, Caritas Czech Republic donated medical equipment with a total budget of 150 000 USD to the Zhvania Children’s Hospital of TSMU. The donation was the final stage of a project which aimed to develop a long-term care service focused on the social and medical needs of children with severe disabilities in state care.
Following the handover ceremony, Petr Mikyska, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Georgia shared his thoughts with us:
“The project was conceived based on the needs of the healthcare system of Georgia. I am very grateful to my colleagues that they could identify that niche as it was not tackled before. Now we have the methodologies, we have the procedures established, the equipment was handed over today and we also have the hope, it will be replicated in other institutions and other hospitals in the regions. Unfortunately, we are dealing with a very sad situation in the lives of the beneficiaries, the situation which requires very special and specialized treatment and we are happy that we could provide means and experience for this care and treatment,” Mikyska noted.
The project was initiated by the Ministry of Health of Georgia for children with severe disabilities in need of long-term and palliative care. The new service established is focused not only on the medical needs of these children but on their social needs as well.
As Tamila Barkalaia, the Deputy Minister of Health of Georgia told us, the Ministry together with the State Care Agency, where these children are enrolled, has actively cooperated with the donor organization and the beneficiary to ensure that the children will receive high-quality services at the newly equipped clinic:
“It is a specialized service that is designed in the best interests of children, so that their needs are fully met, and their socialization is ensured. And what is also very important is that the specialists, who know what type of care is needed for such children, have been trained respectively,” Barkalaia said.
With our efforts, children with severe disabilities can now receive appropriate care
At the initial stage of the project ‘Establishment of Children’s Long-term and Palliative Care Services in Georgia, on the 5th floor of the newly built Zhvania Children’s Hospital of TSMU, “Medical-Social House” – a structure for long-term care of children was established and provided with medical equipment and furniture with the budget of 400 000 GEL. In addition, the package of regulatory documentation for the arrangement of the long-term care system was prepared, and “Child-oriented care” – a training course based on the bio-psycho-social model of long-term care for children, was created. In the framework of the project, the personnel of the clinic were trained and the manual “Pediatric long-term care” was prepared and published.
Through the Czech Development Agency-funded initiative, more than 200 doctors countrywide underwent the training course on new standards of doctor-patient communication accredited by the Ministry of Health of Georgia. Moreover, a new clinical protocol on the management of several pediatric nosologies was prepared, and appropriate accredited training was provided to the pediatricians employed in various clinics across the country.
One of the directions of the project was the promotion of palliative care, within the framework of which a special multi-sensory room – Snoezelen MSE was organized and equipped at the children’s hospice “Fireflies Land”. The medical personnel of the clinic underwent the appropriate training on its use.
With the final donation in June 2023, Caritas Czech Republic donated the following medical equipment to the clinic: the latest generation of electroencephalograph and electromyograph, ventilators for artificial breathing, patient beds, monitors, infusomats, aspirators, multi-functional wheelchairs for patients with disabilities, cranes, and other necessary medical equipment and furniture.
The project was implemented within the framework of the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Health of Georgia and the Czech Development Agency.
This material was prepared in the scope of the project financed by the Development Cooperation of the Czech Republic, which was implemented through the partnership between the Czech Development Agency and Caritas Czech Republic.
By Nina Kopaleishvili
