Commercials, billboards, a counter with a doctor and psychologist, a guideline and a project in schools. the new initiative by Vidas to promote the right to Dat
An accident, the sudden aggravation of an illness can prevent you from express their will on which health treatments to accept and which not. For this reason in Italy there is a law, the 219/2017 (here the text
) which establishes the right to express these choices first, in the fullness of one’s own mental faculties, through the drafting of Advance treatment provisions (Dat), the so-called bioassay (here the video explaining how to do it
)
.
Little (and bad) talk about it
Although the Dat law has been in place for nearly four years, there is still little talk of a living will and in an imprecise way, often confusing it with euthanasia. In fact, according to the most recent estimates, less in Italy of 1% of the population have drawn up the Dat and only 19% declare that they know the law well that regulates them and the procedures to deposit them correctly. In light of these data Lives (Italian volunteers at home for assistance to the suffering, vidas.it/), for 40 years committed to offering assistance to the incurably ill and their families, has decided to concrete action to favor correct and impartial information about this so important tool. The living will, in fact, not only guarantees the right to self-determination, but represents a gesture of responsibility towards loved ones, relieving them of the burden of having to decide on our own in the most difficult moments.
Advisory desk
Thus was born the Biotestamento awareness campaign. Choose now. Now that you can, with the sponsored by Pubblicit Progresso, which Vidas promotes throughout Italy (December 14 is the anniversary of the approval of law 219 in the Senate), with information spots (you can watch it here
) broadcast free of charge by the main national and local radio and TV broadcasters, traditional and digital billboards and a series of free services aimed at citizens who want to know more about the living will. Among these is the Biotestamento counter, which offers the advice from a palliative doctor and a psychologist in drafting the Dat (for info and appointments tel. 02 725111; [email protected]), the first orientation telephone line to which specially trained Vidas volunteers respond (tel. 02 72511 583, from Monday to Thursday, from 14 to 16), the dedicated web page (vidas.it/scegli-adesso
) with all useful information and a mini-guide to download.
Testimonials and schools
The lack of knowledge, often tainted by partisan prejudices, of this right and of the law that establishes it, has prompted us to fill the information gap with a public dissemination action that we hope will be as broad and widespread as possible, states Ferruccio de Bortoli, president Vidas and testimonial of the campaign. Some personalities from the world of culture and entertainment joined with him. Among them the TV presenter Caterina Balivo, the radio speaker Petra Loreggian, the psychologist Silvia Vegetti Finzi, the musician Saturnino. Their video testimonials are available on the campaign webpage. The information and awareness initiative promoted by Vidas it is also aimed at the youngest, the so-called Generation Z, with an active teaching project on biotesting issues carried out in collaboration with La Fabbrica over the next two years. The children of 80 classes belonging to secondary high schools throughout Italy they will thus have the opportunity to develop awareness of law 219, in the field of civic education and across many other subjects, through workshops and laboratories inspired by the methodology of debate, that is the debate between different opinions. Finally, the classes will participate in a competition that will award the best creative communication content and social interest (article, video, animation, etc.) conceived by young people to make citizens aware of and disseminate the law on living wills.
Covid reminded us that we are mortal
An average of three appointments a week, with requests from all over Italy, from people of all ages and without serious illnesses. The Vidas Biotestamento Desk, one of the very few in Italy to offer the free consultation of a qualified doctor and psychologist in the drafting of the Dat (Advance treatment provisions), in recent months there has been a small boom in requests. Open from November 2019 but closed from the first lockdown until mid-December 2020, it has so far offered 62 consultations to 76 people. Of these, 28 people requested counseling as a couple. The reasons for this increase are probably also to be found in the pandemic and its prolongation. Covid reminded us that we are mortal but also that c
’ way and way of dying and living our last moments — dice Giada Lonati, palliative physician and social and health director of Vidas -. Some terms like intubation and assisted ventilation they broke into our daily life, forcing us to reflect on the fact that dying well thanks to adequate palliative care does not accelerate death, but make it lighter.
Make your voice heard until the end
For the lay voluntary association, for 39 years alongside incurable patients and their families in Milan, Monza and 112 hinterland municipalities, the main mission is precisely that of guarantee to each client the right to live until the last moments not only in the most serene way possible but also in full compliance with their own reference values, at home and in hospice. Hence the commitment of Vidas to spread more and more the right to self-determination in terms of end of life and invasive health treatments, sanctioned three years ago by law 219. If on the one hand the pandemic has raised awareness
that death affects everyone and that there is a risk of not being able to make one’s voice heard in the last moments of life – underlines Giada Lonati -, on the other hand made it more difficult to actually draft living wills, as shown by the latest figures released by the Ministry of Health. In fact, from February to December 2020, only 11,096 Dat have been registered in the database, compared to 145,000 deposited in the two previous years, i.e. from 31 January 2018, the day on which the law came into force.
December 14, 2021 (change December 14, 2021 | 14:35)
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