70 YEARS OF ACTIVITY For Cancer Patients

Israel Cancer Association // Annual Report 2022

Rosalind (Landy) Stern Palliative Home Care Service

The Palliative Home Care Service staff comprises the largest number of healthcare professionals officially recognized as experts in palliative medicine, compared to other similar frameworks. The interdisciplinary team work is led by Medical Director Dr. Alexander Waller , and Head Nurse, Sarai Cohen . The staff also includes two social workers in the field of psycho-oncology. Of note is the important contribution of the Palliative Home Care Service volunteers, who accompany the patients and their families. The multidisciplinary Palliative Home Care Service staff continues training palliative care professionals. This continued in 2022. Iris Spivak , a nurse specialist in palliative care, coordinated the absorption of students from the specialization course in clinical palliative care in the clinical field. In May, Iris gave a lecture to a national interest group of ostomy nurses titled, “Care for any condition.” She also gave a lecture to fourth year nursing students at Yezreel Valley College, titled “End of life palliative care.” The 2022 Pithon Peh (journal for ostomy patients) edition included Iris’s published article on “Coping with the disease – a poetic-therapeutic approach.” Dr. Alexander Waller was appointed member of the palliative care sub-committee for prevention, detection and treatment of malignant diseases as part of the Ministry of Health’s 2023 super-strategy. Dr. Waller was also member of the committee’s human resources team. In May, the ICA’s integrated team ( Livia Kislev , Lena Kurtz-Almog ) and hope hospice care ( Pdut Bier , Rina Dikhel , Michal Avidan , Alexander Waller ) published an article titled, “Intimacy and sexuality in patients dying of cancer of coping with incurable advanced cancer in the light of end of life awareness.” The article was published in the Israeli Medical Association’s “Harefuah” medical-scientific periodical, dedicated to palliative care.

The Palliative Home Care Service was established by the ICA in 1989 as the first institutionalized home palliative care service in Israel. Aimed at providing an optimal quality care and quality of life for advanced stage cancer patients, who prefer to remain at home with their family in a supportive environment, the Palliative Home Care Service also serves as a training center for multi-disciplinary professionals specializing in this field. This service operates through the Palliative Home Care Service (Home Hospice) offices, located at the Freedman Pavilion Inpatient Cancer Hospice at Tel Hashomer. Established with assistance from the ICA, the Palliative Home Care Service provides care to patients who reside in the central region (within a 30 km radius of Tel Hashomer). It is also geared towards patients undergoing active oncology treatment, who suffer from acute symptoms and are in need of relief to alleviate their suffering. The physicians, nurses and social workers at hospitals or in the community – who are familiar with the patient and their family – refer the patients to this service, in coordination with the local HMOs. The Palliative Home Care Service is run by an interdisciplinary staff, trained in coping with complications that arise due to the disease and its treatment. The ICA Palliative Home Care Service opened its doors in 2015, through a noteworthy and munificent contribution bequeathed by the Estate of the late Mrs. Gertrude Landy in memory of the late Mrs. Rosalind (Landy) Stern , to help fund the activity of the ICA Palliative Home Care Service, and is named after her. The donation was made possible through the Friends of the ICA in London, headed by Vered Aaron , and under the devoted care of Trustee and former Treasurer Martin Paisner and incoming Honorary Treasurer Jonathan Morris .

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