By Natasha Rusmeyditia | Communications & Events Officer
Rachel House as GlobalGiving Project of the Month
Rachel House is thrilled to have been chosen as the GlobalGiving’s Project of the Month in April.
Out of more than 5,000 life-changing nonprofit projects in 170+ countries, we are truly honoured that the GlobalGiving team decided to feature Rachel House’s work, that brings palliative care to the children of Indonesia, in the Project of the Month Club.
This tremendous support means the world to us, especially for our patients and their families. The phenomenal contribution we received from the Project of the Month members has bolstered the funds we need in order to provide the much needed home-based palliative care, at free of charge, for children living with serious illnesses from financially disadvantaged families. This vouch of confidence has also buoyed our spirit (after a challenging 2 years of the pandemic) and renewed our commitment to ensure access to pain and symptom management for all children to alleviate their suffering and improve their quality of life.
Our sincere and grateful thanks to the GlobalGiving team and all the wonderful members of the Project of the Month Club, for your generosity of spirit and the trust you have bestowed upon us. We hope the stories of our work (see below) can provide you with an example of how your donation will make a difference and a huge impact on the lives of the children living with serious illness in Indonesia.
Stories of Our Work in the Times of the Pandemic
The pandemic has created major disruptions in many of our lives, especially those working in health care. For Rachel House, while the past 2 years have been turbulent of epic proportions, it has also strengthened our team spirit and our commitment to ensure better access to palliative care for all children living with serious illnesses in Indonesia.
In 2020-2021, while the hospitals were struggling to cope with COVID-19 cases, we worked closely with the pediatric wards across major hospitals in Jakarta to provide care for the children (living with cancer, HIV and other congenital illnesses) in the safety of their own homes. This saw the doubling of new patient admission numbers last year, but sadly, also the increase in the complexity of the cases in the children we received. Many of the children were admitted too late into the healthcare system due to the challenges of the pandemic, leaving them with severe and devastating symptoms by the time they presented at the hospitals.
Homecare Impact numbers:
Improving Access to Palliative Care in Indonesia
In line with our vision that “no child should ever have to live or die in pain”, ensuring better access to palliative care for all children in Indonesia is our reason for being.
In 2020, we published “Palliative Care: A Handbook for Caregivers” to help families provide care with confidence for their children living with serious illness at home. This is especially critical for those families who live in the smaller cities and rural areas with difficult access to health care. We distributed the books widely through our partner NGOs and hospitals throughout Indonesia, and also made the book available in e-book format via our website.
While the pandemic has put a stop to travel and physical classroom training, it did not dampen our mission to improve palliative care knowledge in Indonesia. In 2021, we launched our very first Palliative Care Virtual Training Series for Pediatricians and Pediatrics Nurses led by palliative care experts from around the world, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Adapting to the challenges of the pandemic and leveraging available technology allowed us to bridge the knowledge gap and bring international experts to the doctors and nurses in Indonesia – taking us one step closer in our mission to establish a palliative care ecosystem in Indonesia, ensuring palliative care is available and accessible for all children living with life-limiting illnesses.
Our Nurses’ Work Featured by BBC StoryWorks
Last year, BBC StoryWorks featured the inspiring work of our nurses in a video produced for the International Council of Nurses. The video tells the stories of nurses’ inspiring work, from rural America to the urban-poor setting of Jakarta, the community served by Rachel House nurses. The camera followed our nurse Rina as she goes about her day providing love and care for her patients, many of whom would have been bereft of medical care at home and social assistance without her dedication and commitment. (you can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45NINeO3oCU)
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