MOMO extends hospice support for children and adolescents

Since it was founded in March 2013, Vienna's mobile children's hospice and children's palliative team has had MOMO 386Supports seriously ill children and young people and their families - some only for a few months, many for a long time. The need increases every year. In 2020 alone, MOMO looked after and accompanied 150 patients. 

Around 5000 children and young people across Austria live with a life-shortening illness. Around 800 families in the greater Vienna area are affected by such a diagnosis. To support them, Caritas, Caritas Socialis and MOKI-Wien founded Vienna's mobile children's hospice and children's palliative team MOMO in March 2013. Since then, the multi-professional team of now 22 specialists, qualified nurses, psychologists, therapists, social workers and 45 volunteer hospice attendants has done everything to make the lives of children and their families more symptom-free, more pleasant and easier - at home, in their familiar surroundings.

In order for this to be successful, medical and therapeutic care must first be ensured in your own four walls together with the hospitals and special outpatient departments. “Even if the disease demands a lot of resources, we do not limit ourselves to these alone. We also provide psychosocial support for the children and their families or help with administrative procedures, ”emphasizes Dr. Martina Kronberger-Vollnhofer, co-founder and head of MOMO. "We want to help ensure that the children and their families experience as many good and beautiful moments as possible despite the health restrictions." 

For this reason, MOMO expands its care offer year after year. Thanks to the financial support of donors and sponsors, we succeeded in adding a physiotherapist and a music therapist to the team in 2020. An expansion in the areas of nutrition and multilingualism is planned for 2021.

Talk openly about hospice support for children and adolescents

In her eight MOMO years, Kronberger-Vollnhofer has seen time and again that those affected shy away from asking about palliative care or support from a hospice team. "Many people think that palliative medicine is only used at the end of life, ”says the experienced doctor. “But that's not how it is. We often accompany the children and young people over many years. " The earlier MOMO is involved in the treatment, the better the multi-professional team can care for the young patients and make their lives with the disease easier. The support is individually tailored to the needs of the families. Some would like the doctor and nurse to come regularly, others feel the need to talk to a psychologist and still others seek spiritual support.  

When it comes to day-to-day relief, the 45 volunteer hospice attendants have a special role to play. They give time to play, help with homework or go on small trips. They listen, talk to their parents or run errands for them. 

We need more open access to illness and death Due to the enormous medical advances in recent years, more and more children who are chronically ill from birth and require high care costs can live longer with their illness. For this reason, Kronberger-Vollnhofer advocates increased participation of seriously ill children in social life.

“We need more open access to illness and death and we need a different perspective on what we consider to be normal everyday life. The seriously ill children have the same right to be seen and accepted as all other children. "

And they have the right to accessible, affordable and available hospice and palliative care. That is why MOMO supports the families free of charge, as long and as intensively as they need it. MOMO is financed by donors and sponsors, and since 2019 with the support of the City of Vienna. 

Balance for a year

In 19, which was so heavily burdened by Covid-2020, the multi-professional MOMO palliative team

150 critically ill children and their families are supported and involved
1231 house calls and in
5453 Telephone calls, emails and video consultations
7268 hours of medical-therapeutic and social-psychological help provided.

31 children and adolescents died of their illness in 2020.

The 45-person team of hospice attendants has changed in 2020 

2268 hours volunteered for MOMO, 1028 hours of which in direct contact with the children / adolescents and their families.

 Photos:
Dr. Martina Kronberger-Vollnhofer visiting a MOMO family
Photo credit: Martina Konrad-Murphy
 Inquiry note for the press:

Vienna's mobile children's hospice and children's palliative team MOMO
Susanne Senft, press and public relations
susanne.senft@kinderhospizmomo.at
mobile. 0664/2487275 Tel. 02865/21240

https://www.kinderhospizmomo.at

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Vienna's mobile children's hospice and children's palliative team MOMO was founded in March 2013 by Caritas, Caritas Socialis and MOKI-Vienna and under the direction of Dr. Martina Kronberger-Vollnhofer founded. In these eight years, MOMO has cared for 386 families in a multi-professional manner. Around 90 families are currently supported by MOMO. The free help for the families is mainly financed by donors and sponsors and supported by the City of Vienna / FSW.