New medical clinic offers free visits to homeless people in severely marginalized conditions
The MLF has refurbished a new medical outpatient clinic to offer free medical examinations to the homeless and socially marginalised. Specialist examinations in the areas of dentistry, cardiology, dermatology, otorhinolaryngology, pneumology, gynaecology, ophthalmology and psychiatry are offered to all persons who request them. All this in a 200 m2 space equipped with technologically advanced medical equipment, a completely new dental department.
Local
Italy
The project was realised in Naples, Campania, in the historic centre of the city.
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-11-10
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Fondazione Massimo Leone Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Carlo Antonio Last name of representative: Leone Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: President Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via dei Mille 40 Town: Napoli Postal code: 80121 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 081 262063 E-mail:info@fondazionemassimoleone.it Website:http://www.fondazionemassimoleone.it
URL:https://www.facebook.com/ Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): Fondazione Massimo Leone onlus
URL:https://www.instagram.com/ Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): Fondazione_Massimo_Leone_Onlus
Category A/3. Through a renovation of a flat in an old building in the historic centre of Naples, the MLF has made available to the homeless a welcoming, technologically advanced space, which is perfectly integrated into the urban context, providing people in need with a range of free services that are very important for their health and well-being. The outpatient clinic offers specialist examinations, enabling those who are undocumented or have no access to national medical care to receive assistance in various medical areas. Dental procedures are offered without requiring any financial contribution, and two dental chairs have been installed in order to avoid long waiting lists. The outpatient clinic is equipped with every comfort: 4 large rooms for medical examinations, 4 bathrooms (one for disabled people), and a large reception room in which people can also stop to be welcomed. The facility is equipped with a lift, accessible to everybody. The premises are well furnished, lit, heated and cooled according to the seasons. A medical clinic with attention to every detail in which a number of volunteer doctors offer their consultations. The running costs of the facility are totally supported by the MLF, and in addition to medical care patients also receive personal assistance, orientation services and can be accompanied by specialised personnel in individualised socio-occupational reintegration paths. This new facility, with its large and generous spaces, offers concrete help to those who find themselves in a difficult situation.
BEAUTY
CARE
INTEGRATION
EFFICIENCY
WELL-BEING
The key objective is to offer free care to people who are homeless or in poverty. This is achieved with the help of many volunteers and by creating a network with the local area. The project has been set up in the historic centre of the city, in a highly touristic location. People are welcomed and accompanied with full respect for their dignity and well-being. The MLF operated in a small property where no more than 15 people could stay. With this outpatient clinic, another 50% of people can be accommodated, waiting lists have been reduced and specialist medical support has been guaranteed even for preventing serious illnesses. The aim of this project is to guarantee the right to health for everybody. The project is realised thanks to the support of many small private donors who want to help others in need.
The building has been redeveloped to create a bright and welcoming environment. The outpatient clinic is located in a historical building, behind the Purgatorio church in Arco, a place of historical and artistic interest. Perfectly integrated into the urban context, the premises have two new dental chairs and a highly advanced X-ray unit. People are welcomed with courtesy and respect, the atmosphere is joyful and familiar, the treatment highly effective. The design is linear, the floor meets the legal requirements for medical areas. Those who reach the premises pass through the main artistic sites of the city of Naples, the location is near the Churches of San Paolo Maggiore and San Lorenzo, near the famous Naples underground. Patients who reach the Purgatorio ad Arco outpatient clinic are very impressed by the beauty of the place where they are welcomed without having to pay anything.
The project is inclusive, fighting against extreme poverty and the exclusion of people from the right to HEALTH. The main objective is to prevent the poor from being left on their own, to allow them to receive adequate care, though they cannot pay. In Italy, for example, the national health system intervenes in case of toothache, but does not offer treatment and reconstruction of a tooth because the cost of treatment would be too high. At this clinic it is possible to receive treatment, reconstruct a damaged tooth, implant a prothesis. These are all expensive operations, but homeless people have the right to rebuild their lives, they have the right to see themselves beautiful and cared for. One of the first indicators of poverty is the type of smile a person has. A well-groomed smile gives an image of beauty and care. This project wants to honour every individual's right to care and prevention, regardless of their economic conditions. It promotes health and prevention, easy access to medical care for all citizens.
The project was made possible thanks to the involvement of the Naples area. The premises were granted by another organisation, 'Opera Pia Purgatorio ad Arco', free of charge for eight years to the FML to set up the new outpatient clinic. The equipment was purchased by a Neapolitan company, Kineton, eager to promote free services for people in need, investing around 40,000 euros, also raised thanks to its own employees. What is more, some private citizens supported the project by giving personal funds. A fundraising campaign of 5x1000 has been set up to be allocated to this project. Some test clinics offer discounts for screening tests due to their social purpose. Providers charge a favourable price to guarantee a higher number of services. A foundation that distributes funding 'Fondazione con il Sud' believed in this project and offered to pay the specialised staff (chair assistants, nurses, etc.) for three years. The doctors all collaborate on a voluntary basis. The positive response from everyone allowed the project to be realised; in the city of Naples it is the only outpatient clinic to offer all these services free of charge.
The local authorities were interested by explaining the purpose of the project and its social utility. In order to open a medical facility, it was necessary to apply for all legal authorisations, and the bureaucratic process was complied with in every part. The project was realised thanks to private contributions but it is available to the entire local and national community and welcomes people from different countries.
The project involved experts in the medical, historical and social fields. The doctors dealt with the needs to provide accurate care by using new equipment. The experts in the historical-artistic sector took care of the renovation of the flat in an old building in Naples at the back of an important church. The social experts analysed the demands of the homeless, the needs of the stakeholders to offer targeted services.
Category A/3: The outpatient clinic started to provide medical examinations on a trial basis from 5 October 2022 pending the formal authorisation of the local authority to medical practice on those premises, which was received by decree on 10 November 2022. From October 2022 to January 2023, 327 persons in a state of severe social marginality were visited and 501 specialist examinations were carried out. All persons were welcomed, interviewed with regard to medical needs and in respect to other needs (the need for finding a place to sleep, where to eat, where to wash, a new job, etc.); they were also accompanied to public hospitals when necessary and possible. The impact on the territory is important by directly intervening in the physical and mental health of the recipients. Furthermore, preventive health screening may avoid the crowding of public facilities, when there is no need for that support, and it also allows to save money of public health by reducing the number of unnecessary admissions.
A new, technologically advanced medical clinic has been created for the exclusive use of homeless and socially marginalised people, demonstrating to fragile people that they deserve to be treated at their best, welcomed in aesthetically beautiful spaces, cared for with advanced means and technologies on a par with any paying patient in full respect of their dignity and guaranteeing the right to care, prevention and health for all.
The methodology applies starts from the idea that in order to socially reintegrate a person, it is necessary to help them take care of themselves. Taking care of one's own health is an important first step. Contact with doctors, psychologists in a protected and welcoming environment fosters the creation of a relationship of trust that can lead to later solutions. People are supported with individualised projects to get out of their difficult condition.
Health is a primary good. Homeless people tend to neglect their health for many reasons. Creating a care centre - with a space adapted to their needs, longer reception times, moments of listening and orientation meetings - helps to foster a process of taking charge of the person to activate their potential. The project should be replicated wherever there are realities that want to help the homeless. Providing accommodation or giving food is not enough to help people living in a marginalised condition; people must be helped to take charge of their lives, and the first step involves the care for their own health. By involving the local area, the voluntary world, and the business sector, it is possible to create similar structures, lowering the costs of medical interventions and guaranteeing a service for everyone.
The project supports the right to health for every person, in this case dealing with the health of the homeless, people who have lost their homes, who have many issues to deal with and who, therefore, tend to become invisible. As the years go by, homeless people stop taking care of themselves and their health, they ,cannot maintain proper hygiene. Homeless people look older than their age, they look unkempt, they do not look after their smile because it costs too much. This project starts with the person and his or her state of well-being, at first physically and then mentally. The homeless need to be helped to recover fragmented parts of themselves. Governments tend to remove them from the streets to maintain decorum, few think that, in order to integrate them, they must be helped starting with what they are no longer capable of, that is taking care of themselves.
