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Prevention and Care Activities Of The Center
MEDICAL TREATMENT AND CARE OF PATIENTS
Safeguarding
Human
Rights
and Outreach
Community Support
The Camillian Social Center (CSC) has a campus sufficient to provide housing, medical treatment and counseling for about 60 AIDS patients. For children at the CSC born HIV positive, required medical services are provided by Doctors and Nurses who regularly visit the Center. Other medical and support staff at the CSC responsible for general diagnosis, treatment, care and counseling services receive additional professional training and development.
The CSC has developed
curative and preventive educational activities designed to encourage a high
level of interaction between patients, medical practitioners and social workers.
These activities have also helped patients gain a better understanding of their
situation, enabling them to better focus on their personal talents and skills.
Special activities are designed for the patients to help them regain a sense of
dignity and improve their quality of life. These skill-oriented activities
often can double as income generating activities such as basket weaving, making
greeting cards, embroidery and other handy crafts.
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Primary and secondary school
is provided for the patients and their children in order to instill a sense of
normal family life. There are currently 31 outpatient children at
the Center in ages ranging from 4 to 14 years.
The Camillian Social Center
has a number of assistants who provide regular laundry, cooking, maintenance and
gardening services. They also attend to the needs of the
patients on a 24hr basis. Some HIV+ patients at the CSC that take
care of many of their own domestic chores and at times even assist other full
blown AIDS patients with special loving care and personal attention.
The
Center carries out culturally appropriate public education and training
activities to promoting self-awareness, self-esteem, and a sense of
personal social responsibility. The training is targeted in two main
directions. The first is to educate the potentially vulnerable
populations of young students and factory workers in the area. The
second consists of "Train the Trainer" training for both Government
and Non-Governmental staff in order to send them out in the community as
educators. The training sessions provide background information on
sex, interpersonal communication, the biology of the HIV/AIDS virus and a
general understanding of the ways the HIV/AIDS virus can and cannot be spread.
The intention of the training, discussions and role playing is to combat the
further spread of the AIDS epidemic through prevention by increasing the
knowledge and understanding of the virus. The training also aims to
develop additional sympathy and support within the community in the hope that
HIV/AIDS patients will receive better treatment within Thai society.
The training enables participants to begin organizing and consolidating other
self help & community efforts in order to solve problems related to the
disease.
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Living with AIDS
is stressful. Infected people face constant discrimination threat from the
community all the while they are fighting with the disease for their very lives.
Many are denied even basic medical treatment, housing and education for their
children once their HIV status is known. Others are forced to live
and work in very hostile environments. The CSC provides
psychological support and services for education and counseling to help maintain
the positive attitudes among the patients and their families. The
Center often supports patients until they can fully recover and become strong
enough to return to their normal activities. Patients are provided
with additional knowledge and skills to protect themselves while being sensitive
to others feelings towards the disease. Many HIV/AIDS patients come
seeking assistance in defense of their basic human rights under the Thai Human
Rights Protection Act. The CSC helps defend the legal rights of the
patients to safeguarding their human rights. This often
involves networking with other NGOs on legal support issues. |
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Approximately
seven times per month, the CSC staff goes in teams to provide seminars and
educational workshops to various schools and industries within the area.
They also visits patients
at their homes( both in rural and urban
areas ) to provide counseling and support to the patient and their families.
These outreach visits often locate needy AIDS patients and help the Center learn
more about their actual needs and background.
The
Center has developed, organized, and coordinated efforts to help AIDS patients
and provide educational and counseling services to families and communities.
It has also actively searches for financial assistance which vital to the
sustaining services provided by the Center.
Furthermore,
the Center has adopted dynamic methods in solving AIDS problems in order to come
up with the best techniques to match the fast changing environment. One of these
methods which goes through various phases is to identify the needs of individual
patients. The Camillian Center provides help to needy people without
discrimination and is always ready to welcome and help other people who are in
the same situation as those already in the Center.
The
CSC has been able to cover its basic operating costs and build a major part of
the Center's infrastructure within the last four years through the generous
donations of it's supporters. New sources of funding will be critical to
insure the continued success of these programs for providing help, care,
support, and compassion to the HIV/AIDS communities.
