Sternenbrücke children's hospice

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Sternenbrücke children's hospice
The Sternenbrücke children's hospice in Hamburg-Rissen

The Sternenbrücke children's hospice is a palliative care facility opened in Hamburg-Rissen in 2003 for terminally ill young people up to the age of 27. In the children's hospice , young people can be admitted together with their next of kin. In addition, families are supported not only in the last phase of their child's life, but also on the path of illness, which often takes many years, as part of relief care. Even after the loss of their child, the Sternenbrücke helps orphaned families with grief counseling .

history

At the end of the 1990s, Ute Nerge, the current director of the Sternenbrücke children's hospice, recognized the need for palliative support as a pediatric nurse in a clinic for families with children with life-limited illnesses. Peer Gent, then head of a nursing service, supported her idea of ​​founding the first inpatient children's hospice in northern Germany. On December 1, 1999, the support association for the Sternenbrücke children's hospice was founded as a pioneer and forerunner of the Sternenbrücke. At that time the focus was on setting up the children's hospice. Today, the friends' association mainly collects donations for day-to-day operations and the content-related work of the Sternenbrücke.

On September 7, 2001, the Sternenbrücke children's hospice foundation was established to support the children's hospice. Isabella Vértes-Schütter (chairwoman), Ute Nerge (deputy chairwoman) and Peer Gent (executive director) form the board of the foundation , which is recognized as a non-profit and charitable foundation . A multi- professional board of trustees supports the board with specialist knowledge in the fields of medicine, law, church and economics on an honorary basis.

The Sternenbrücke children's hospice was opened on May 17, 2003 and has since accompanied around 600 affected families from all over Germany.

Academy Children's Hospice Sternenbrücke

In order to continuously improve the interdisciplinary care of terminally difficult and terminally ill young people and their families, the Academy Children's Hospice Sternenbrücke was opened on January 20, 2011. The advanced training program is not only aimed at medical and nursing professions, but also addresses educators , teachers , educators , volunteers in child hospice work as well as affected parents and other relatives. The aim of the academy is to provide the participants with current knowledge for the best possible care and support for the families concerned. In addition, optimal networking of all those involved should be enabled and mutual understanding for the special situations in the respective work areas should be promoted.

Content of the work

In the Sternenbrücke, life-limited sick young people up to the age of 27 and their families are treated by health and (child) nursing staff , experienced child and youth and palliative medicine , pain therapists, physiotherapists, social pedagogues, a bridge nurse , (healing) Educators , grief counselors and the hospice management accompanied. The children's hospice can accommodate 12 families at the same time. Admission criteria are a shortened life expectancy due to an incurable illness or a severe multiple disability (care level 3), which is likely to lead to death in childhood or adolescence. This must be certified by a doctor's prescription for hospice care.

According to estimates, there are up to 50,000 young people in Germany who suffer from life-limiting diseases or disabilities that shorten their lives so much that they die in childhood or adolescence. In addition to the Sternenbrücke, there are 14 other children's hospices in Germany that give the sick young people and their families the greatest possible support.

Relief care

In contrast to adult hospices, terminally ill children, adolescents and young adults can not only come to the Sternenbrücke children's hospice for dying care. Even on the path of illness, which often lasts for many years, the young people are admitted to the Sternenbrücke with their relatives for at least 28 days a year as part of relieving care stays. During these stays, the families can draw strength for further home care for their sick child. 80 percent of the work in the children's hospice consists of relief care.

Support at the end of life

In the last phase of life of a sick young person, the family can stay in the children's hospice for an unlimited period of time . The skilled nurses are specially trained in the palliative care of children, adolescents and young adults and have a lot of experience in the care of dying young people. A close exchange between nursing staff, doctors, hospice management and grief counselors ensures targeted pain therapy for the sick children as well as comprehensive support for relatives in this sensitive life situation.

Support after the loss

Even after the loss of their child, grief counselors and the hospice management support orphaned families with various offers in coping with grief. This is important so that the affected families find a way into their changed lives after the loss of their child.

financing

The daily costs for caring for and accompanying a family in the Sternenbrücke children's hospice amount to an average of 1,100 euros. About 60 percent of the costs, especially for the care of the sick child, are covered by the health and care insurance funds. However, most affected families are unable to pay the additional costs themselves due to the tight financial circumstances in which they live. Caring for a terminally ill child restricts the parents' career options, while financial reserves were often used to look after the child for many years. Therefore, another 40 percent of the costs for accompanying the families have to be raised from donations . In order to be able to offer help to all those affected - regardless of their financial situation - the Sternenbrücke depends on financial support. The annual donation requirement is 1.8 million euros.

Prominent supporters

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Würde is Mettwurst with Nutella, pureed. In: BRIGITTE. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Ute Nerge: A rainbow to the stars . S. 147-148 .
  3. ↑ The Sternenbrücke children's hospice foundation. In: sternenbruecke.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Sabine Tesche: "You need a lot of talent for improvisation". In: www.abendblatt.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  5. ^ Hamburger Abendblatt - Hamburg: New academy in the Rissen children's hospice Sternenbrücke. In: www.abendblatt.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  6. ↑ German Hospice u. Palliative Association. (PDF) In: www.dhpv.de. Pp. 4–6 , accessed June 20, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Franziska Kopitzsch: Number of children with life-shortening illness doubled - challenges for practice. A conversation with Marcel Globisch, Andreas Müller, Boris Zernikow . In: The hospice magazine . tape 66 , no. 4 .
  8. ↑ Relief care. In: sternenbruecke.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Stationary children's hospice - hospice & palliative work coordination office Hamburg. In: www.koordinierungsstelle-hospiz.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Financing. In: sternenbruecke.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Support at the end of life. In: sternenbruecke.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Financing. In: sternenbruecke.de. Retrieved June 20, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Prominent supporters. In: Website of the children's hospice Sternenbrücke. Retrieved August 6, 2020 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 24.7 "  N , 9 ° 45 ′ 12"  E