The past year was once again marked by the coronavirus, while the demand for the services of the non-profit remained stable.
The management noticed that the length of stay at Omega 90 has decreased. According to Administrative Director Fabian Weiser, there are two reasons for this: First, people did not know that visitation rights were not restricted at Omega 90. The other reason, however, is that “people were very well cared for at home by the support and care networks”.
1,100 people received psychological support from the Omega 90 services in 2021. 70% were adults, 30% children and adolescents. The non-profit points out that the youngest members of society also had to deal with death and grief during the pandemic. In this context, some of them could benefit from the Omega mécht Schoul (“Omega makes school”) project. This project has existed for the past ten years and focussed so far on children in Cycle 3. In 2021, courses were also offered to children in Cycle 4, as Diane Duhr, the President of Omega 90, explained to our colleagues from RTL Télé.
During these classes, an Omega 90 contributor helps the children develop techniques that enable them to deal with their grief in a constructive way, which in turn helps them become “more resilient”. “They learned what helps them when they feel sad and what they can do to get through this phase,” Duhr explained.
The classes were taught by a volunteer worker of Omega 90, who previously worked as a certified teacher for over 30 years. She is one of 77 volunteers that supported the work of Omega 90 in 2021.
Omega 90 recently published a letter to Luxembourg’s political parties, in which the non-profit presented three demands.
The PICT (instrument for determining the patient’s palliative stage) should be included in the Grand Ducal regulation of 28 April 2009 specifying the procedures for granting the right to palliative care. Omega 90 also demands the introduction of mandatory further training of doctors and nursing staff, and an awareness campaign to promote the usefulness and benefits of a person of trust.
Director Nicole Weis pointed out that since the second law from 2009 on palliative care and euthanasia and the 2014 law on the rights and obligations of the patient, “the person of trust has taken on an important status”. “Unfortunately, many people don’t know that this concept exists,” according to Weis.
Omega 90 also thinks that residents should be able to deposit their documents governing the will at the end of life, namely the ACP (advance care planning), somewhere. For the non-profit, the Shared Care Record (MyDSP) would be the ideal place. Until the platform is fully operational, Omega 90 proposes that residents should be able to save their documents on MyGuichet.
In 2021, Omega 90 had costs of around €6.8 million, 11% of which was funded through donations. The money from the National Health Fund (CNS) and the Ministry of Family Affairs is not enough to cover all costs, according to the non-profit.
The full report by RTL Télé (in Luxembourgish):
