WITH ANT TO SUPPORT FAMILIES OF CANCER PATIENTS

ANT Foundation is a "wallless" hospital that brings all the necessary care to cancer patients directly to their homes every day, thanks to the unshakable work of a multidisciplinary team.

ANT is active throughout the country and in Umbria offers home care to cancer patients with a team consisting of two doctors, a nurse, a nutritionist and a psychologist.

With the ANT delegation of our territory, for five years we have been building projects to support the work of people who aid the sick and their families:

• in 2017 we were able to contribute to the work of Elena, the team nurse;
• in 2018 we “adopted” Dr. Sara;
• in 2019 we took care of seven cancer patients with the project dedicated to home care for cancer patients of ANT.

Medical and psychological support to the sick during the pandemic

From the onset of the Covid-19 emergency to today, ANT home care has never stopped. The situation caused by the Coronavirus has increased requests for home assistance and psychological assistance. There has been an increase in requests for treatment that are best done off-site from the hospital, such as medications, blood samples, blood transfusions, pain therapy, supportive therapy.

The requests for psychological help, on the other hand, concern not only the oncological diseases, but also the fears and anxieties related to the epidemic.

Over the past year, we have managed to guarantee 160 home visits in Perugia and the province to support 40 cancer patients. Help not only for those who are sick, but also for family members. Giordano gave his testimony.

We also supplied masks, goggles, gloves, shoes and disposable gowns for the team's professionals. As we have now learned, protections are essential for everyone and even more so for people who challenge the pandemic every day to take care of others, as Dr. Paola Pizzuti told us.

Over the course of 2021, for four months, we will continue to guarantee psychological support to 27 cancer patients and their families.

Free psychological support for anyone

Also, during the period of the pandemic, the project  Beyond the pain of loss was born. This is a free psychological support service open to everyone. It was created to support people who are enduring deep grief during these complex months. The service supplements and completes the one already guaranteed by ANT to its patients, opening the possibility to anyone who needs access to the professional help of Dr. Giacomo Ercolani, with in-person interviews, by telephone or via the web.

A few months after activation, because of growing demand and the positive experience of those who have already accessed the service, we decided to renew the psychological support project link in the news "Beyond the pain of loss" also for 2021 and extend the possibility of accessing the service also to people residing in the Foligno area.

The project will last six months and will guarantee 100 interviews to those who are in great difficulty.