Beyond the ice bucket | Anna Zammit

Its unassuming premises and placid Balzan environs may lead you to pass it by without a second look, but the enduring success of Hospice Malta is largely down to the consistent generosity of the public.

Relying mostly on donations to continue doing their work, the Hospice offers care for cancer patients, as well as those suffering from respiratory disease and motor neurone disease.

Among the latter category is Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Previously something of an obscure disease, ‘ALS’ is currently enjoying a surge in awareness thanks to the viral online phenomenon of the ‘ice bucket challenge’ – a social media daisy chain in which people are challenged to dump buckets of ice water over their heads. Thanks in large part to celebrities and politicians also joining in the fray, the ice bucket challenge has, at the time of writing, raised $100 million towards ALS research – specifically for the American ALS Association.

Since the online world has no geographical borders, Malta has felt a ripple effect from the initiative, and Hospice Malta Care Services Manager Anna Zammit is certainly grateful for it.

 “We’ve been taking care of ALS patients for quite some time – but few people knew about that before the ice bucket challenge came along,” she says, while also noting a clear spike in donations over the past week or so.

According to Zammit, the Hospice has also had an influx of new volunteers joining their ranks – specifically offering to help out patients suffering from ALS, as a result of the ubiquitous viral challenge.

“So I can’t help but see this as a positive thing, as it reaches out to people directly.”

The most important priority for the Hospice in the treatment of ALS – as with all other illnesses – is to ensure that each patient has an individual care plan.

“We believe that each patient is an individual, not just a patient, and so we make it a point to deal with them on a case-by-case basis. We make an assessment of every patient’s situation before we taken them on, by sending a member of staff to determine whether they would need any particular equipment, or whether they would need a particular kind of physiotherapy, for example,” Zammit says.

She emphasises how a progressive disease like ALS can be psychologically taxing for the sufferer’s family.

“Watching somebody dear to you, who may have been very active in their daily life, suddenly lose their mobility can be hard to take. This is why we provide respite care, which can relieve family members from having to care for their relatives, at least for a few hours a week.”

Tackling each case individually is particularly important in the case of an illness like ALS.

“The fact is that ALS affects your mobility, your speech, and can even render eating difficult. It affects the sufferer’s life on every count. So there are various factors to take into consideration. So sometimes when we come over to do our assessment, we may have a preconceived ‘agenda’, but this is subject to change depending on the patient’s particular situation.”

An illness like ALS can also affect a patient’s livelihood, as it can leave them incapable of continuing to work. While the Hospice does not offer direct monetary aid – their work being focused on providing services – Zammit assures me that, “if there’s leeway for them to receive monetary aid from other sources, we do our best to ensure that they do get it”.

Zammit describes the services of the Hospice as all falling under the general umbrella of ‘holistic care’, since they cater for both the physical and psychological needs of the patient. Another service provided by the Hospice is bereavement support, which offers comfort to the families of patients who may have passed away. Zammit says that this particular service has led to a positive development, as these family members will tend to show their gratitude to the Hospice either by donating or by offering to volunteer at the Hospice.

And while the ice bucket challenge may have played its part in this most recently, Zammit says that luckily, the taboo surrounding the kind of illnesses that the Hospice provides care for has been steadily dissipating over the past few years.

“Some years ago we would have around 30 new patients a month – now that number has doubled. This doesn’t mean that more people are getting ill – it’s a sign that there’s more awareness about these illnesses, with a consequence that fewer people feel ashamed about coming forward and asking for help.

“It’s even entering into the culture of medical students at university, who will eventually feel perfectly comfortable with referring their patients to the Hospice, should the need arise.”

Naturally, an increase in demand requires larger premises, and this necessary expansion is at the forefront of Zammit’s mind when it comes to the Hospice’s future.

Confident about the fact that the Maltese are “very giving” people, Zammit nonetheless stresses that fund-raising events remain crucial to the day-to-day running of the Hospice.

To this end, the Hospice will be organising its Midnight Walk – a night hike starting in Bugibba – on 12 September.

“We hold this event every year… but I’m sure that the ice bucket challenge will help us get more people on board this time around,” Zammit says.

For more information on Hospice Malta’s Midnight Walk, log on to: http://hospicemalta.org/fund-raising/midnight-walk-2014/