FEC’s History

The Foundation for Elderly Care (FEC)

Foundation for Elderly Care (FEC), founded in March 1998 is a not-for-profit, apolitical and non-religious organization founded in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, at the beginning of 1998, with the main purposes solving complex problems of medical and psychosocial elderly. The foundation was established through the generous support of the Open Society Institute New York and the Open Society Foundation Romania, as well as other organizations and individuals at home and abroad.

At the beginning, the organization has operated under the name “MANASTUR COMMUNITY CENTER” which provided services to older people in the neighborhood Mănăştur by Foundation for Elderly Care (FEC) and to young people through activities offered by the Romanian Association for Health Education (RAHE).

The objectives of Mănăştur Community Center were:

A). Services for Elderly, provided through two projects:

1. Day Care Center for Elderly:

– established in March 1998, working on the ground Nursery Centre no. 9, Mehedinți Street, no 15, Mănăştur district, an area of ​​200 square meters;

– offered services: recreational activities, medical consultation, nursing, health education activities, psycho-diagnosis, recovery activities, occupational therapy and social services;

– medical equipment rental: metal crutches, walking frames fixed, anti-decubitus mattresses, wheelchairs wheel-chairs, hospital-type bed, toilet seats.

2. Home Care services:

– project started in January 1999 with funding from Stichting Roemenie Comitee – from Belgium and Something for Romania -Scotland;

– offered services: monitoring vital signs, treatments injections and infusions, wound care, pressure sores, stoma, urinary catheters, therapeutic maneuvers to prevent bedsores and pulmonary complications, food processing, sampling biological;

– multidisciplinary team: 1 nurse coordinator, 10 nurses, 3 physiotherapists, 3 personal carer, one speech therapist and two family physicians;

– May 15, 1999 – the start of palliative home care services – project started in collaboration with the Institute of Oncology from Cluj-Napoca.

B). Services for young people, carried out by 2 psychologists and 10 psychology students, with the following activities:

1. Activities for children and adolescents:

– improving communication;

– information about nutrition and diet, smoking, alcohol, AIDS, sexuality, environmental protection, conflict resolution;

2. Activities for parents:

– improving relationships between parents and children;

– inducing attitudes related to health education;

3. Activities for Educators:

– achieving of modern teaching methods;

– information related to diet, smoking, alcohol consumption and drugs, sexuality, AIDS, environmental protection;

– preventing harmful substance abuse and delinquency.

• Since 2000, the Foundation for Elderly Care continued the projects started only for the elderly, youth services department being moved to another location.

• In the years 2000 – 2004, for further projects FEC, we received financial support from the organization Health Net International from Netherlands and Harris Health Services from Hungary. Projects during this period were:

– Day Center for the Elderly – continue;

– The Home Health Care Services in Cluj-Napoca – continue;

– The opening of workstations for Home Care Services, as follows:

– Timisoara – from January 2001;

– Huedin, Turda, Câmpia Turzii and 7 villages from the county – in 2002;
– Oradea (Bihor County), Bistrița (Bistrița-Năsăud County), Zalău (Sălaj County) – from 2003;

– Physical Medical Rehabilitation Centre – project started in June 2002;

– Services provided by one professional in recovery services, Physical Medicine and Balneology, one Balneology-Physiotherapy and massage therapist:

Physical recovery for acute and chronic, bone and joint injuries, paralysis post-stroke, postoperative orthopedic conditions – prosthetics;

special programs of maintenance and improvement of the state of physical health;

– Reminiscences Center (RC) – a project started in 2003 in collaboration with the European Reminiscence Network Project – Finland and Association Agora – Bucharest:
– Services provided to elderly people with memory impairment (dementia), mild to medium form of dementia, consisting of:

 stimulating memory session;

 psychological support;

 occupational therapy;

 training offered to the carers / family regarding the care process of elderly with dementia;

 training offered to the professionals which are involved in the care process of patients with memory disorders.

– Between 2006-2010 the Reminiscence Centre activities were discontinued because of the lack of funds.

– In 2011, we resumed the Reminiscence Center activities, by the initiative of the FEC’s social worker and practitioners students and volunteers.

• In May 2004 – all the FEC’s social work and home nursing workstations are abolish, the organization still scrolling the projects, but only in Cluj-Napoca. The reasons that led to the restriction of activities are:

– ending foreign funding;

– we were unable to obtain funding from local authorities to ensure continuity of services started (Health Insurance Houses, Local Municipalities) – non-priority objective for local institutions of that time.

• Since 2004 and now – for the continuity of the project started in Cluj-Napoca, Foundation for Elderly Care get public funds as follows:

1. Social Work and Care Services at Day Center and Home Healty Care – Subsidy under Law no. 34/1998 – approved by the Local Council – Directorate of Social Work and Medical Assistance Cluj-Napoca;

2. Home health care – funding of the Health Insurance County House from Cluj;

• Physical Medical Rehabilitation Centre – since 2005 – has received financing from the funds of the Health Insurance County House from Cluj;

• August 2010 – FEC is forced to suspend recovery services and abolish Recovery Center – because the budget received from CJASS Cluj was insufficient to support the granting these services and FEC hadn’t own enough funds to ensure continuity of services.

• In September 2009 – FEC is transferred to another location, received rent from Budget Management Centre Nurseries – Cluj-Napoca City Hall, Tazlău Str., no. 11 – with an area of ​​250 sqm. In this space, there are currently three halls for day center activities, an office for coordinating the Social Work and Home Care services and an Administrative Office.

• Since 2004, the Foundation for Elderly Care is authorized for operation as a Home Health Care Provider, issued by the Ministry of Health and since 2005 it has the Certificate of Accreditation as Social Work Unit, issued by the Department of Labor and Social Protection Cluj.

• Since 2004 until now, the City Hall of Cluj-Napoca supported FEC’s activities by subsidizing social services under Law 34/1998.