Trento, 20th November 2020 – Doctors with Africa CUAMM launched today in Ledro and Vallarsa, two towns in the region of Trento, two new facilities to support local nursing homes, allowing family visits in Ledro and more comfortable dressing rooms in Vallarsa.
These new spaces, funded by the U.S. Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will contribute to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic, ensuring the safety and the mental health of elderly patients.
The new facilities were inaugurated during two different events in Vallarsa and Ledro. Massimo Giordani, general director of the local union of organizations for people’s assistance (UPIPA), attended both the ceremonies, with Fr. Dante Carraro, director of Doctors with Africa Cuamm, and Andrea Atzori, chief of party of IRC19, the project which funded the facilities. In Vallarsa at 10 AM Luca Costa, major of the town, was present, with Giulia Stoffella and Michela Plazzer, president and director of the nursing home “don Giuseppe Cumer”, respectively. In Ledro at 1 PM Marisa Dubini and Roberto Povoli, president and director of the nursing home “Giacomo Cis”, welcomed the visitors.
The inauguration in Ledro.
Ledro: a new space to meet the family
The new space delivered to the nursing home of Ledro will allow visits from family members to the patients. It is joined with the main building of the house but accessible for external visitors from a different path, and it is provided of plexiglass panels to guarantee the safety of the guests of the health facility.
Given the vulnerability of the people admitted, visits from family members were forbidden between March and May 2020 in the majority of the nursing homes in Italy, with important consequences on the mental health of the people: both amid patients and relatives. With the new facility of Ledro the problem will be solved even during the upcoming months.
Vallarsa: a new changing room and a better meeting space for a covid-free facility
In Vallarsa, the nursing home pointed out the need for a new changing room for the staff, in order to maintain the structure Covid-free, not mixing clothes, personal protective equipment and scrubs. Over the last months, the staff has been using a tent built in the garden, but with the coming of winter the new space will guarantee a more comfortable place for nurses and health workers.
The new facility built in Vallarsa.
In the frame of the same project, in Vallarsa part of the patio of the nursing home has been arranged to serve as a meeting space for family visits, respecting physical distancing and safety standards during winter.
Fr. Dante Carraro, director of Doctors with Africa CUAMM, stated, “This pandemic shows us that we have to take care of the most vulnerable people. In Africa, we have been doing that for decades, focusing on the health of mothers and children in the first place. In Italy, it is clear that elderly people are much in need. For this reason, following suggestions from our doctors who have come back from Africa and are now working around Italy and here in Trento’s region too, we decided to do something specific also for nursing homes.”
Andrea Atzori, chief of party of Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s “Italian Response to Covid-19” project (IRC19) stated,” These two new facilities are part of a larger project that aims to create more resilient healthcare facilities and communities and to provide training for the future generation of healthcare professionals. We see how the knowledge gathered in many years of work in epidemics in Africa today is fundamental in Italy as well. We are glad we can bring help even here in Trento’s region, thanks to the work of our volunteers and to the U.S. Government, which is supporting a number of initiatives in Italy, aiming at reducing the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.”
USAID, which funds IRC19, is the U.S. Government’s premiere development organization operating in more than 100 countries worldwide.
This press release is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of Doctors with Africa CUAMM, recipient of the Fixed Amount Award (FAA) No. 7200AA20FA00013 and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
