Enhanced Community Quarantine Covid-19 Delivery

These times have been hard for most of us. Due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), many people are left to stay at home, most being unemployed, and others with the privilege of working from home.  Though for both scenarios, the reality is that going out to purchase necessities is very difficult. Those without the means to purchase have to wait for government aid and those with enough money end up in line for so long to find themselves in a shop with empty shelves. It is a trying time but nonetheless, The Ruth Foundation has found ways to reach out to their patients, since home visitation has been discouraged to prevent possible cross-contamination.

 

May I remind you, dear reader, that most of TRF’s patients have low immune systems. These patients are chronically ill (them being palliative and hospice patients) and though the team was not able to provide home-based consultation, they have been connecting through phone (telemedicine). This distribution of goods acted as a way for each patient to still feel the presence of TRF, in the safety of their own homes.  

 

Each team member had their roles, from purchasing, repacking and delivery to pick up points. The main difference is that most of the time, the team had to stay inside the company vehicle to avoid possible spread of any virus. Don’t worry, they were provided PPEs and followed health safety protocols before and after delivery. This distribution was done last April 3 and 4.

 

The Ruth Foundation is grateful for each member of the team who did the groundwork, for those who worked behind the scenes, for those who donated, and for those who took time to pray for their safety.

“Nag papasalamat po ako sa (The) Ruth Foundation at sa mga sponsor, mga doktot, Dr. Mae, sa mga nurse, volunteer kahit sa malayo po kaming lugar nag papaalala pa rin kayo sa amin kalusugan at sa Covid 19 at nakakataba po ng puso malaking bagay napo ang inyong pag alala lalo na’t kay nanay ko na si J.T.* kung ano dapat gawin sa kanya lumalakas naman po siya kaya LABAN LANG! Ma’am Jelai salamat din po sa inyo at sa Ruth Foundation. God Bless! Lubos na gumagalang, R.D.*”

“Ruth Foundation, thanks sa free check up and free medicine na binibigay ninyo sa nanay, lalo na sa pagbibisita ninyo lagi sa kanya. J.R.* name ng nanay ko. God bless you all, (the) Ruth Foundation! Many, many thanks. –M.T.*

*name changed for privacy

Patient’s faces have been blurred as per Patient Privacy Act.

Patient’s faces have been blurred as per Patient Privacy Act.

DSWD Social Amelioration Package

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) committed to provide emergency subsidies of P5,000 to P8,000 for two months, as well as livelihood assistance grants to the low-income households affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The DSWD said an eligible family will receive the emergency subsidy “in cash and in kind” from various national government agencies as provided under Republic Act (RA) No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020.

For more information or questions, you can reach out to our Social Workers Lira and Laurice at 0943.804.9957 or contact DSWD directly at 8.951.2803.

Comm Workshop

Last March 10,2020, we held a simple in-house workshop for Communications. The main topics were:

1. Introducing TeamUp, an app used to set up our teams’ schedules so that each one would be aware of tasks done by each team. This serves as the foundations’ digital bulletin board so as to create awareness of updates and increase communication within the team

2.Launching of the #CompassionateMe Project. Team members answered the Q&A form. Compassion was discussed, focusing on the idea that Compassion starts within us and you can be compassionate in very simple and practical ways.

3.Introducing the Event Feedback and Summary Forms. Team members who attended were familiarized with these forms which will help keep track of events in the foundation.

There were 14 attendees that day and all looked forward to more workshops like this.

In-House Training: Genogram Training with Social Workers

Yesterday, March 3, 2020, Dr. Nanette Ramilo-Cruz trained TRF’s Social Workers in using a Genogram.

A genogram is a diagram charting the history of the behavior patterns (as of divorce, abortion, or suicide etc.) of a family over several generations. It also details the medical history of a family in order to assess a family member's risk of developing disease. Last year TRF’s nurses also underwent this in-house training as part of patient documentation.

This training assists the Social Workers in using family assessment tools in the palliative care plan. This also assists them to foresee problems in the future for families with patients suffering with chronic illness.

This training was an avenue to enlighten TRF’s Social Workers regarding family connections, roots of concerns, etc.

Facility Visit: Chosen Children Village Foundation (CCVF)

Chosen Children Village Foundation (CCVF) at Silang, Cavite provides a home environment with a family setting for abandoned children with physical and mental disabilities. 9 members of The Ruth Foundation team were privileged enough to visit their facility yesterday, March 3, 2020.

They were welcomed by Mr. Adrian Mendoza (Executive Assistant), Dr. Erbito Asinas (GP, In-house doctor), and Mr. Joshua Flores (Social Worker) who toured them around the facility.

 

The initial goal of this visit was to take a breather from the regular office work and home visits done by the team. This visit acted as an avenue to deepen each member’s empathy. TRF also found this visit as an opportunity to look into considering CCVF as a possible partner in the Compassionate Communities Campaign.

 

The main highlights of this visit was dropping by the Toddler’s House where Kuya Dan had an immediate connection with one of the children in CCVF’s care. Seeing the Rehabilitation Center was also remarkable, wherein the highly functional differently-abled (those with Down Syndrome/ Trisomy 21) youth care for the low-functional differently-abled children/youth.

 

One of the takeaways is that empowerment is important – even those children/youth with special needs can work with the team, therefore we can find ways to empower our able patients and their families to be partners of care and find more creative ways to work hand-in-hand with them.

 

If you would like to know more about Chosen Children Village Foundation, visit www.chosenchildrenfoundation.com