Bitonto, city of relief and kind city, tells of its commitment to the treatment of pain and suffering
On the occasion of the XXIII National Relief Day, which was celebrated on Sunday 26 May 2024, the Welfare councilor, Silvia Altamura, sent a letter to the Gigi Ghirotti Foundation, promoter of this moment dedicated to the importance of relief from physical and psychological suffering , which every year is an opportunity to reflect on how fundamental the right to pain relief and support is for those facing serious or chronic illnesses.
In the note, Councilor Altamura illustrated the intense activity of promoting the culture of relief carried out by the municipal administration during the year, both at an institutional level and through the launch of new projects with the territory, all aimed at protecting and support people with fragility.
Below is the full text of the letter addressed to the Ghirotti Foundation and the multimedia material (video and image gallery) which recounts some of the initiatives for pain treatment and relief carried out in Bitonto.
“Among the activities that have achieved the highest level of compliance, due to the ability to respond in a personalized way to the growing health needs of the population, we would like to mention SOStenere: co-planning with the third sector for the creation of a socio-health center widespread. The project was promoted with the aim of implementing and strengthening services for taking care of fragile people, for accompaniment and “relief”, with a view to integration and complementarity with what has already been provided by the territory.
The strategy proposed by the project was to design a socio-health hub through widespread help desks and online consultancy centres, aimed at people and families in conditions of serious marginalisation, including minors and adults with more or less disabilities. serious, strengthening the network of existing local services, aimed, through an integrated approach of care and assistance, at:
> provide information, consultancy and guidance on socio-health issues;
> guarantee access to social and health services active in the city area;
> initiate users into the free use of social and healthcare services guaranteed by a multidisciplinary team of professionals and volunteers.
All the services activated within the project, in fact, were the result of an intense networking activity with the socio-health services of the area, aimed at overcoming the fragmentation of the interventions and outlining an action of coordination and harmonization of the same, through the organized and continuous involvement of the various actors involved: local authorities, health services, social services, schools and some third sector entities.
From this perspective, the network actions for the co-programming and co-planning of the services activated with the “SOStenere” project constituted a preliminary and preparatory activity for the convening of the “Relief Table”, established in this Municipality in 2023, which will represent the first moment of discussion on concrete actions, resources and constraints tested in planning and sharing strategies for the future.
The project was carried out in collaboration with the “Giovanni XXIII” Foundation of Bitonto, the “Opera Santi Medici Cosma e Damiano Bitonto – Onlus” Foundation and the “Ziph” Social Cooperative and made it possible to experiment with a set of good practices, which the The Municipality intends to propose it again to the area in order to strengthen the relief network which sees one of its strong points in the synergy between the public body and the third sector.
A further project which affected the territory throughout the year and which represented an important stage in the growth of the protection system for the most vulnerable citizens and citizens, saw the creation of offices for the activation of psychological paths for the mourning process and the psychological care of people who face a period of physical and psychological difficulty due to a worsening illness with a poor prognosis. With the project, called Never Alone Again, the municipal administration intended, in line with its mandate objectives and with the nature of “city of relief”, to support citizens in the promotion of their potential, in empowerment processes, especially in particular moments of existence characterized by emotional fragility and risk of social isolation.
The project was carried out with the support of the “Opera Santi Medici Cosma e Damiano Bitonto – Onlus” Foundation and in line with the founding principles of the palliative care movement and the regulatory references (law 38), in the awareness that offering support to people who experience this particular phase of their existence has a positive impact both on the subjects directly involved and on the related socio-family, work and life contexts of reference, to the point of involving the entire community.
With the “Never Alone Again” project, the Municipality of Bitonto was proclaimed a Gentile City, a prestigious recognition which further demonstrated the importance of this initiative in the context of actions to support the most vulnerable people. Joining the network of Gentili Municipalities represents a declaration of commitment for the Municipality as it is aimed at enhancing the relationship between institution, citizen, territory and nature in line with the objectives of the UN Agenda 2030, through the promotion of a new education for awareness and individual, relational and collective well-being.
The Municipality of Bitonto, with these and other actions that it has implemented and will continue to promote, makes the words of Gigi Ghirotti, after whom the Foundation is named, its own: «relief has no horizons. Lifting someone up is an ethical duty, allowing yourself to be lifted up is a right. And it is always a free act. Being sick but not feeling pain is a liberation.”
