Sharif al-Shawish and his eight-year-old mother were spending time, effort and money to access medical services in hospitals and health centers in Gaza, before they knew Homely Care, an unprecedented community-based pioneering initiative in the Gaza Strip that provides nursing services to those in need at home.
Al-Shawish (44 years) suffers from diabetes and needs constant review of outpatient clinics in hospitals, while his mother needs periodic examinations and replacements for wounds inflicted on her body due to her sitting for long times without movement due to her advanced age (85 years).
Homely Care has helped relieve the pressure on hospitals and health centers in Gaza (Al-Jazeera)
Al-Shawish and his mother live in the town of Beit Hanoun, a remote agricultural area located in the north of Gaza. He tells Al-Jazeera Net that "access to hospitals and health centers requires mobility and financial costs in light of the difficult economic situation."
"With the (Homely Care) initiative, we got great medical services from specialists who came to the home at much lower costs, and we saved time and effort, and we got rid of the fear of contracting the Coronavirus while traveling and waiting in hospitals," he added.
The initiative provides primary care services and plans to cover the entire Gaza Strip next month (Al-Jazeera)
Entrepreneurial initiative
Pioneers launched the "Homely Care" initiative to provide health services to help those in need of home health care, including post-operative patients, chronic diseases, bedridden and physiotherapy seekers, of all ages.
According to its director of operations, Doctor Fikri Mohamed, this initiative is based on 5 administrators and 35 specialists and service providers in various specialties of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy, at nominal prices.
These prices are met with the quality of the services provided, Ridha Al-Shawish, and said that "the prices are good and appropriate, and good dealings on the part of the service providers, as they give the patient his full right to time, work and appointments."
Doctor Muhammad says - to Al-Jazeera Net - that the visit fee for a patient is only 10 shekels (a dollar equals 3.25 shekels), half goes to the service provider, and the other half is used by the initiative's operations department to help patients who are not financially able.
Homely Care is keen to spread a healthy culture in Gaza (Al Jazeera)
Primary care services
The idea started with a free individual initiative launched by nurses in 2018, to provide home nursing services for the wounded in the "return marches", and after research and evaluation with Doctor Muhammad, it was developed 3 months ago into a community initiative that currently covers Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip.
"During the next month, we are planning to cover the Gaza Strip areas from its north to the south," Mohamed says. "We will first start by launching the health education and support service, before generalizing the rest of the medical services provided by service providers affiliated with the initiative."
The initiative provides nursing services of all kinds, physical therapy, laboratory analysis services, child care, and free services for cancer patients.
Home medical services at nominal prices as part of a pioneering initiative in Gaza (Al-Jazeera)
Corona promotes health awareness
In its early stages, the initiative collided with a lack of awareness and a culture of receiving medical services at home, and those in charge of it made unremitting efforts to publicize its importance.
According to its director of operations, the Corona pandemic and the accompanying precautionary measures, restrictions on movement and movement, and tremendous pressure on hospitals and health centers, have contributed to increasing community awareness, which is evidenced by the noticeable monthly increase in the number of service seekers.
The initiative relies on introducing its services and communicating with the public on its website, platforms and social media accounts.