Help bring Palliative Care to Indonesia's children

Rachel House receives prestigious Presidential Award

On 21^st August 2017, Rachel House received the Presidential Achievement Award in recognition of its contribution in making available palliative care to children of Indonesia. The prestigious presidential award, held as part of the celebration of Indonesia's 72nd Independence Day, celebrates the achievements of 72 "Achievement Icons" from across Indonesia.

Pancasila, the guiding philosophy of Indonesia, guarantees the right to healthcare under its fifth principle, "social justices for all Indonesians". Rachel House's founder, Lynna Chandra, urged the Indonesian government to play an active role in ensuring the successful implementation of palliative care by issuing the guidelines and policies for palliative care to be included as a critical component of the national health system. 

Clinic-in-a-Box

To ensure good pain and symptom relief are available for all in Indonesia, medical professionals must be equipped with impeccable skills that put patients’ quality of life as a priority. Rachel House's Clinic-in-a-Box training program, now in its third year, continues to provide nurses with the skills and knowledge to effectively manage patients' pain and symptoms. Among other things, participants are taught to accurately assess and manage pain, in all its various facets ranging from physical, emotional, psychosocial and spiritual; how to communicate with patients and families with care and compassion; and the routine yet critical skills of maintaining oral hygiene and finding creative ways to ensure healthy nutrition throughout the patient’s journey.

As an important part of the Clinic-in-a-Box training, participants learned how to care for the emotional pain of patients and their families who are facing serious or terminal illnesses. Many healthcare professionals are ill-equipped to deal with death, grief, and bereavement. In Clinic-in-a-Box, nurses have the rare opportunity to explore their own attitudes towards death and dying, as well as to improve their skills in providing emotional and spiritual support for their patients.

Nurse Iin, from one of the largest national hospitals in Indonesia said, “This training truly nurtured our souls. Palliative care is the essence of nursing care. Yes, we learned about nursing, but even more than that, we learned how to care for our patients with compassion in our hearts.”