This has been a year of consolidation and a year of celebration.

2012 began with a new challenge as the team prepared itself for a change of leadership. This time, instead of looking externally the Board decided to promote someone who has been with Rachel House for 4 years. The entire team rose to the occasion to support the decision, teamwork was elevated a notch higher and commitment to the cause renewed.
This was a year of celebration where:

  1. Our nurses were invited to speak at many nursing schools in Jakarta and in West Jakarta Province to share their knowledge of palliative care;
  2. Rachel House’s homecare model was endorsed by the National Nursing Association (PPNI) as the homecare model to replicate throughout Indonesia;
  3. Our nurses were invited to participate in “difficult case discussions” at one of the major hospitals in Jakarta, chaired and attended by senior doctors and professors, to offer their recommendations in relation to palliative care.

On the 6th year of our operation, we celebrate the courage of our team who has risen to the challenge of leadership so wonderfully!

 

President Tony Tan’s visit

Singapore’s President Tony Tan Keng Yam, patron of Singapore International Foundation, visited Rachel House on 29th November 2012 on his 5-day state visit to Indonesia at the invitation of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The visit was hosted at Dharmais Cancer Hospital, to showcase the very first pediatric palliative care inpatient unit in Indonesia that was established as a result of the training initiated by Rachel House supported by Singapore International Foundation in 2009.

Impact

Partner Organisations

In the 4 years since the service began (in August 2008), we have successfully introduced the concept of palliative care to a large number of medical professionals from the public and private healthcare systems. The outreach has been extended in the last 12 months to include medical and nursing schools as far as the West Java Province. Slowly but surely, a sector-wide impact is being created in the healthcare industry in Indonesia.

In 2012, through the relentless advocacy work of the team, three hospitals were added to the list of partner organisations that are now referring patients to Rachel House and participating in the palliative care training that we organise:

  1. MRCCC, the largest private cancer hospital in Indonesia,
  2. Harapan Kita Hospital, the largest women’s and children’s public hospital in Indonesia, and
  3. Tarakan Hospital, a public hospital serving the East Jakarta population.

This brings the number of partner organisations currently working with Rachel House to a total of 25 (8 public and 1 private hospitals and 16 public health clinics).

Palliative Care Service

At the time of the writing, the service reached a total of 83 children in 2012 (17 cancer and 66 HIV), and provided training to over 500 caregivers and healthcare volunteers.

Outreach

The advocacy work to build the palliative care sector in Indonesia remains at the core of our activities. Some of the most significant impact achieved through our advocacy work includes:

  • Cipto Mangunkusomo Hospital, the largest public hospital in Indonesia that sees close to 1,000 children annually, began sending its doctors and nurses to participate in the palliative care training organized by Rachel House. We understand the hospital intends to launch its own pediatric palliative care service eventually.
  • Harapan KitaHospital, the largest women’s and children’s hospital in Indonesia that sees more than 700 children annually, has announced its intention to start its own pediatric palliative care service and is currently liaising with our nurses for assistance in setting its admission and discharge criteria;
  • MRCCC, the largest private cancer hospital in Indonesia, has begun participating in the public seminars on palliative care we organized this year.

The Palliative Care Public Seminars organized by Rachel House this year have seen a total of 160 participants, ranging from medical professionals from public/private hospitals & clinics and the public prisons to teaching staff from medical and nursing schools.

 

International Teaching Panel

We have been truly blessed with the support from the international palliative care community that has continued to share their knowledge, skills and their commitment with our team and our community.

Our special thanks to:
Jan Philips, Dr Rosalie Shaw, Liese Groot-Alberts, Dr Sue Marsden, Joan Marston, Dr R Akhileswaran, Amy Tan, Tan Wee King and Eileen Chua.

 

New HIV Movement

In conjunction with the International AIDS day, we launched a much needed roundtable discussion with key players in the HIV arena, ranging from doctors active in pediatric HIV care to NGOs active in providing psychosocial assistance to the children and their families. The aim of the roundtable discussion was to share ideas on ways of tackling the biggest issues facing women and children with HIV today in Indonesia, supported by the best practices from South Africa shared by Joan Marston. For Rachel House, our dream is to achieve “Zero children born with HIV in Jakarta”.

 

Volunteers, donors & supporters

Rachel House was built from friendship – we would not be where we are today without the commitment, faith and support of so many of you. For this, and for continuing to believe in us, we thank you.

Wishing all a very happy Christmas this holiday and a beautiful New Year.