engleski

Telephone Counseling Project: Experience and Impact

Background Telephone counseling and support are one of the ways of help available to people in crises. For cancer patients this service is new and is currently being developed in Croatia. This service is provided by various non-governmental organizations (NGO). The League against cancer in Koprivnica-Križevci County has started a telephone counseling project for people with cancer and their family members. Objective The purpose of that project was to improve the quality of life and provide psycho-social help and support to people with cancer and family members in the County by creating a volunteer net, and introducing new services for improving health as well as bringing the cancer issues closer to the community. Methods Descriptive methods were used for assessing outcome and efficiency. This is an intervention method of implementation of new services of psychological support and counseling. Results Preparations lasted for 6 months before the beginning of the telephone counseling, and were preceded by establishing a work group within the League against cancer in the County. During preparations a group of expert volunteers was established with 14 permanent members who attended specially organized seminars (counseling and communication skills workshops). This project was then presented to the public, posters and leaflets were also published and ways of financing the project were found (Ministry of Health and local government). Telephone helpline of the League started operating on 13th of February 2007 on the occasion of The World Cancer Day and The World Day of Sick. Helpline operates by expert volunteers twice a week. They received one call a day on average. During 2007, permanent education of the volunteers continued. Also, a group of 9 volunteers touched by cancer was formed. Financial resources for continuing the project in 2008 have already been ensured. Conclusion Although introducing new services is a demanding and long-term process, every kind of help and support needs to be developed and encouraged. This includes the telephone counseling in order to provide people and community with more possibilities for improving their health and quality of life.

cancer; counseling; intervention; League against cancer; Koprivnica-Krizevci County

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