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News / Success Stories

Expanding the home care service in Lebane - even more solidarity with older persons

  • Lebane, 24 September 2021

With the support of the Government of Switzerland through the Swiss PRO Programme, the Municipality of Lebane is implementing the project "Local Community Response to COVID-19" in partnership with the Lebane Social Welfare Centre, which is aimed at establishing and expanding sustainable and high-quality social protection services that facilitate a better quality of life in the community against backdrop of the pandemic for the oldest fellow citizens who do not have adequate family support, while securing job creation in the field of social protection.

Branko Pejović is 82 and he lives in Lebane on his own. He has two sons who live outside of Lebane and is a widower. His sons are doing their best to visit him whenever circumstances permit.

As an older person living in a single-person household, Branko was recognized by the Social Welfare Centre as a person in need of support, and as of this year he is a beneficiary of the home care service. The care of Branko is entrusted to geronto-housekeeper Gorica Đorđević, who lives in the same town and pays him two-hour visits twice a week, in accordance with the needs.

"When Gorica comes, it's as if my closest relative came to see me. She’s really good at anything and everything, especially when it comes to my many medications. She brings me groceries, cleans the house and prepares meals for me. I simply love to have a cup of coffee with her and a nice long talk, because if it hadn’t been for her I wouldn’t have had anyone to talk to", Grandpa Branko openly expresses his satisfaction.

Gorica is one of the three caregivers who have undergone the licensed training within the project and are currently taking care of 33 beneficiaries, the oldest fellow citizens, who live in both Lebane and rural areas of the municipality. A number of settlements on the territory of the municipality of Lebane do not have a pharmacy or an outpatient clinic, so considering that most beneficiaries of the home care service have mobility problems, purchases of medicines are often unimaginable without the help of others. Another problem is the purchase of staple food products because of the distance of shops from their homes.

"We are satisfied at the progress of the project from the standpoint of both field work and cooperation with the Swiss PRO Programme. We have secured the provision of the service to all priority beneficiaries who were on the waiting list. With regard to this service, as well as other services, there is always room for improvement in the social protection system, and we hope to continue the fruitful cooperation with the Swiss PRO Programme", explains the director of the Lebane Social Welfare Centre, Dragan Cvetković.

The municipality of Lebane is one of 22 local self-governments supported by the Swiss Government through the Swiss PRO Programme in the implementation of projects for the development and provision of social protection services aimed at mitigating the impact of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More information about the projects is available in the Overview of Public Call Results.