Every person should have access to information regarding options and should be able to decide freely at the end of their lives as to where and how they wish to die.
What are we about?
We believe palliative care should be available for all, and should be accepted as a natural part of life. We have worked hard to see this happens: we’ve fostered financial self-sufficiency for selected Czech hospices through a fundraising academy, we’ve supported new approaches and ideas in organizations and facilities where people spend the end of their lives, we’ve financed new palliative care teams in many Czech hospitals, and we’ve introduced the development of palliative medicine as a subject in selected universities.
This is still an unfamiliar concept for part of society and we believe that this comprehensive and professional service should be accessible and open to the largest possible number of patients in the Czech Republic. That is why we have supported long term fundraising development, resources, education and communication in a third of hospices in the CR. Our purpose is that hospice teams should be able to generate continuing support from the community and thus create a longer-term sense of financial security so they can focus more on their core mission and help patients. 
In cooperation with trusted respected experts, we financed a pilot advocate project, backed by key umbrella palliative organizations, the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic and the General Health Insurance Company of the Czech Republic. Thanks to this synergy, the Czech government has decided to provide additional funding for palliative care services that have been implemented with our support.
"The majority of patients wish to experience the end of their life at home, together with their loved ones. The aim of the mobile specialized palliative care pilot project is to test a model in which a dying patient has permanent access to a team of physicians, nurses and other specialists. Support from the Foundation enabled us to collect valuable data during the course of this project as a result of which quality palliative care at home is becoming a regular component of a system of care paid for through health insurance."
A scholarship for professionals working in palliative care
70% of people in this country die in hospitals, without access to comprehensive palliative, social and spiritual care, and often without their loved ones beside them. We want to change this and so we invited hospitals to partner with us. Now, thanks to courageous health professionals and hospital management, 25 hospitals are creating multidisciplinary palliative teams which will provide support to other departments and colleagues, and above all to dying patients and their families. We continue to support the development of palliative care in hospitals.
"Hospitals are a key player in care for the dying. It is no exaggeration to say that this Foundation program represents a historic milestone, which has led a number of Czech hospitals to accept and express for the first time that even death is a part of life and that they truly wish to be with their patients till the end. The response from health-care establishments has been very positive so the program has already done a great deal by naming this issue and kick-starting the processes to resolve it.”
Future physicians, nurses, other health workers, social workers, care givers, and clergy will not only provide care in their professional environments, but also accompany dying patients. Supporting their education, we hope that professional palliative care will become an integrated and natural part of their mission.
There are still parts of our country where there is no option other than caring for the dying and their family in hospital. That is why we decided to look for and support innovators, new approaches and ideas, for example in organizations where people often spend the end of their lives such as senior care homes or long term illness treatment facilities.
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Executive Director
Libuše Tomolová
tomolova@avast.com
Director of Programs
and Development
Martina Břeňová
brenova@avast.com
PR Manager
Irena Setikovská
irena.setikovska@avast.com
Program Manager
Kateřina Kotasová
kotasova@avast.com
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