Beirut, March 2017: On the occasion of the World Patient Day, Bellevue Medical Center (BMC) launched its collaboration with Diakonia organization on Wednesday March 1st, aiming to ease the burden of chronic illnesses on patients, their families and involved staff. Indeed, the latest studies show that a patient’s emotional and social wellbeing contribute very significantly to their healing process.
A group of Diakonia’s volunteers will be present on a regular basis at BMC premises, to offer the needed emotional support for heavily ill patients, their families and caregivers, through one-to-one encounters, small group meetings, music, drama and art therapies as well as other forms of communication, and allow the concerned people to able to express what they are going through on a daily basis.
The majority of Diakonia group’s volunteers are either previous patients or people who are intricately involved in the healthcare field, hence perfectly understand the situations of patients, their family members and caregivers. They share their valuable experiences with the concerned people, provide them with active listening, assist them to verbalize their feelings, and drive them to try find solutions to their problems, which indirectly affects positively their treatment.
Commenting on this supportive collaboration launch, Dr. Dia Hassan, President & CEO of BMC said: “We truly believe that a patient’s emotional and social wellbeing contribute significantly to their healing process, hence our collaboration with Diakonia that will help us deliver a patient-centered care in order to improve patients’ quality of lives. Moreover, we understand the heavy pressure weighing patients’ family members and our implicated staff, who will now have the opportunity to benefit from Diakonia services to express themselves and find emotional comfort.”