LFamily-centered care is increasingly a philosophy that can profoundly help a child’s entire illness journey.
But dialogue and continuous discussion between experts in the healthcare world and family associations are needed to finalize the entire process.
The Promotion of Family Centered Care was discussed at a conference hosted by SDA Bocconi, in Milanby title “Family Centered Care: everyone’s issue”, and promoted by the Ronald McDonald Children’s Foundation ETS together with AOPI, SIN, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and SDA Bocconi School of Management.
A conference with experts
The event was sponsored by Municipality of Milan, by the Childhood and Adolescence Guarantor of the Lombardy Region and by the Niguarda Foundation.
It saw the presentation of a bill dedicated to the promotion of family-centred care, filed on 17 November by the Honorable Simona Bordonali.
Among the participants, Lamberto Bertolé, councilor for Welfare and Health of the municipality of Milan and the professor Fabio Moscadirector of the Maternal-Child Area Department of the IRCCS Ca’ Granda Foundation Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milan.
«The participation of the family in the care process during a child’s illness is an integral part of the treatment. Making this participation possible through spaces where hospitality is found is essential.
A bill to promote family-centered care
Not just physical spaces, but places where patients and their families can find the welcome and support of a second home. This is the Ronald houses” underlined the Honorable Simona Bordonali.
«The visit of Casa Ronald to Brescia and the sharing of values with the Ronald McDonald Foundation led to the birth and filing of my bill which provides provisions for the promotion of family-centered care.
A first step, which I hope will become state law as soon as possible, but a necessary intervention alongside the families who find themselves facing dramatic moments and towards all those associations, foundations and bodies that have been working in this direction for some time.”
Families at the center of care
During the event, a research project by SDA Bocconi was presented, aimed at investigating the value produced by the Ronald McDonald Foundation through the Family Rooms and the Ronald Houses, evaluating the contribution to the National Health System, to the innovation of services and to the communities of reference.
The conference was divided into five thematic panels. “The humanization of spaces: the hospital of the future and of the community” was the central theme of the first debate.
The second panel focused on the application of the “Family Centered Care” model of care – a philosophy in which the Ronald McDonald Foundation strongly believes and which recognizes family and community as a fundamental point of strength in the treatment and healthcare process of a sick child.
In the third and fourth panels, space was given to the voices of hospitals that share the “Family Centered Care” model. Speaking were a mother guest from one of the eight Ronald McDonald Foundation facilities in Italy and four representatives of family associations or volunteers.
Finally, the fifth and final panel “Family Centered Care in European care standards” was an opportunity to broaden our gaze beyond national borders.
Hospitals… for families
Ronald McDonald Children’s Foundation fully embraces this model of care: its reception network, distributed internationally and nationally through the 4 Ronald Houses and the 4 Family Rooms, was created with the aim of giving hospitalized children and their families the opportunity to remain united in a difficult moment such as that of hospital treatment.
Lhe upcoming opening of Casa Ronald in Bologna goes in this direction and aims, with the inauguration set for this month, to welcome families with children undergoing treatment at the IRCCS Policlinico di Sant’Orsola.
«We are really proud to promote, together with prestigious partners, the second round table entirely dedicated to Family Centered Care» underlined Nicola Antonacci, President of the Ronald McDonald Children’s Foundation, commented.
«This model of care has always inspired our mission and guides our daily activities. We firmly believe that putting the family at the center of the child’s treatment process is the right way to support and accompany them during the diagnosis and treatment.”
«The humanization of care is a particularly dear topic for me» added Marco Giachetti, President of the Milan Polyclinic. «Patients or their families who enter the ward for hospitalization or a visit must find a welcoming, warm environment and a series of attentions that make the hospital experience a positively perceived experience.
This is why in the construction of our New Polyclinic we are paying great attention to the overall well-being of the person, designing meeting places that go beyond the treatment path.”
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