There is a growing prevalence of chronic and life-limiting illnesses in our country, most of which are incurable upon diagnosis. With the trend of modern medicine focusing on curative measures, active management of chronic illness, and even aggressive management of life-threatening illnesses, the resources from all sectors naturally sway in such direction. Without downplaying this particular prioritization on “cure”, the Foundation works on the need to supplement resources towards the equally important component of health management-the component of “care”.
While there is a growing need for palliative care, there is still an enormous lack of training among medical and nursing staff in palliative care and most organizations experience difficulty in maintaining committed volunteers. On top of this, there is still a lack of public awareness, meager administrative support, and consequently, still no stable government funding for hospice care. With this, the “voice” of palliative and hospice care, remains very much in the background, amidst a resource-constrained population, needing it most.
With this, The Ruth Foundation for Palliative Care was formed in 2012 for the primary purpose of providing community-based opportunities for service in the care of the homebound elderly and those with life-limiting illnesses alongside education and training in palliative and hospice care for nurses, volunteers, and other community-based health professionals.
In a nutshell, TRF provides free psychosocial services and pushes for better palliative care (a.k.a. quality of life care) hospice for underprivileged palliative care patients.
Along with the control of pain and other distressful physical symptoms, psycho-social care is a key component of palliative care. With this, TRF has launched a new project that will not only supplement the nutritional care of elderly and chronically ill patients but will also boost their spirits, with reminders that we care for their whole person.
Compassionate Community Kitchen (CCK) now provides TRF with the opportunity to reach out to patients and their families, beyond their medical needs, igniting a new flame of compassion with the care that TRF has been sharing for nearly ten years.
CCK is the sustainable initiative under TRF that aims to improve the quality of life of the underprivileged who are facing a life-limiting illness & restore the dignity of their family members by providing psycho-social care services and specialty & nutritious food.
CCK weekly distributes free meals to palliative care patients. Below are the regular beneficiaries of CCK:
• The Ruth Foundation Palliative & Hospice Care patients
• Brgy. Munting Ilog residents 80 years old and above
• Shelter of Hope (Silungan ng Pag-asa) – a temporary shelter in Manila where cancer-afflicted children from faraway provinces can safely stay while they need their treatments and follow-up
• CHILD Haus – The Center for Health Improvement and Life Development (CHILD) Haus is the first and only temporary home for indigent children with cancer
• House of Somang – a charity-based, residential facility for abandoned and homeless elders in Metro Manila.
To be able to sustain weekly distribution to the patients, CCK has also become a fund-raising endeavor. It is accepting orders for these delicious meals wherein 100% of the proceeds go back to funding the free meals for our underprivileged patients and their families as well as towards the benevolent fund of TRF which is used to purchase their much-needed medicine, medical supplies, and other supportive care needs. The community can get involved and support the advocacy through:
• Ordering delicious Southeast Asian food from the CCK menu for their consumption. Meals are good for social gatherings or company events or meetings.
• Sponsoring of meals that will be distributed to the beneficiaries (e.g., TRF Hospice, Brgy. Munting Ilog, Shelter of Hope, CHILD Haus). Donors may also recommend beneficiaries (preferably patients needing palliative care) within the geographical reach of CCK.
For more information, follow https://www.facebook.com/cocokitchen.ph or visit https://www.ruth.ph/
