On the Occasion of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, President Milanović Meets with Representatives of “Volunteers in Palliative Care” Association

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović met today with the representatives of the association “Volunteers in Palliative Care La Verna,” Association President Blaženka Eror Matić and Secretary Kristina Jadrijević-Cvrlje. The meeting was held on the occasion of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, which is marked on 14 October.

The work of the association “Volunteers in Palliative Care La Verna” was presented at the meeting to President Milanović. It was founded in 2017 with the aim of continuing a programme, started in 2009 as part of the Secular Franciscan Order, aimed at coordinating volunteers in palliative care. The association consists of 37 volunteers and three employees who provide support and care for over 200 palliative patients and their families in the Zagreb area on a yearly basis.

The delegation explained that caring for palliative patients requires them to actively cooperate with other stakeholders, notably mobile palliative care teams at health centres, family medicine physicians, hospital palliative teams and social welfare centres. The delegation warned that the palliative care system is still non-existent in some areas of Croatia. The importance of volunteering was highlighted by the delegation as well, since it is not easy to stimulate volunteering in palliative care.

The association is financed through individual donations and EU funding programmes, and the assistance provided to palliative patients and their families is free of charge. On the occasion of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on 14 October, the association will again this year launch the campaign “ZaČin ljubavi” [For the deed of love], which aims to sensitize the public and institutions to the needs of palliative patients, and encourage volunteering.

The association received two state awards for its work: the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy declared a programme of the association “La Verna” the best volunteer initiative of 2018 and in 2022 a social work graduate was presented with the Volunteer Coordinator State Award. Association volunteers are recipients of four Volunteer Oscars awarded by the Volunteering Centre Zagreb in partnership with the City of Zagreb.

President Milanović was accompanied at the meeting by the Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education Jadranka Žarković.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek