If families caring of frail elderly people are helped in early identification of needs, the result is an improvement of the whole family well-being. These are the findings shared at the interinstitutional meeting of Cross Care project, held in Portogruaro (Ve) on February the 5th where the results of the experimentation in Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Slovenia have been presented.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Cooperativa sociale Itaca (lead partner), Asp Itis Trieste, Residence for the elderly Giuseppe Francescon - Portogruaro, Azienda Unità Socio Sanitaria n. 4 Eastern Veneto, Veneto Region - Social Services Department, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region - Central Health Department, Social Health Integration, Social and Family Policies, City of Sacile - Protected Residence for the elderly, and Azienda Assistenza Sanitaria n.5 Western Friuli - Pordenone.
The project, led by Cooperativa sociale Itaca and included in the Interreg VA Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 program, promotes an integrated cross-border approach to care elderly through the networking of existing services to promote active aging and prevent institutionalization.
"The result of the experimentation - highlights the director of the Zancan Foundation, Cinzia Canali - has exceeded the most optimistic expectations and has highlighted the importance of the early identification of needs: as soon as the family is helped to bring out their needs, the more effective and positive is the outcome in terms of social and health well-being for the frail elderly and for the whole family".
Innovative social policies have been developed within the project to support families that take care of frail and polypathological elderly people. Facing all the different and unclear ways to access home care, CrossCare has developed a best practice named Service Center created within residential care facilities as these services are known as places where having info on all the activities planned for aging. Service Centers are managed by a care manager who accompany the family in the complex process of choosing places and resources to deal with fragility.
The experimentation has shown not only that Service Center are a fundamental part of CrossCare as they can collect families needs and guide the path to assistence, but also that home services are today an adequate address to face the risk of institutionalization of the elderly.
CrossCare project has involved 97 people over 65 with polypathologies, also with cognitive-behavioral diseases. Comparing the different situations, the results with people suffering from cognitive-behavioral diseases were surprising: an adequate assistance has helped in handling frail people everyday life, improving well-being for the whole family.
Within CrossaCare more than 400 operators have been trained in Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and in Slovenian Republic. The training have deepened issues regarding multidisciplinary team work, early management of the frail elderly and the use of innovative methods such as Validation (empathic relationship with frail and families) and Gentlecare.
The meeting in Portogruaro confirmed the interest of the Institutions for the CrossCare project and the model of taking care, which places the residential structures - through the Service Center - in a crucial position also for the early home care (before families begin path with social services). The project activities also confirmed that networking is the only way to intercept families needs linked with age-related frailties, offering tailored made solutions to support caregivers and elderly people needs.
Operation co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund
